Broody hen!

thudson

Crowing
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I have my 1st hen going broody. It's my best hen Angelgirl. She started on 1 egg and 2 fake eggs I added two more eggs is this OK to do? Do I need to do anything for her. She is in a nest box around a few other hens, do I move her, leave her alone or what? I've never had a setting hen before. Does she need anything special done for her? I have not seen her move in 3 days.
 
Just leave her and she will do everything. The less you mess around in there the better. Get an area/ cage ready for her and the chicks when they hatch.
 
I have my 1st hen going broody. It's my best hen Angelgirl. She started on 1 egg and 2 fake eggs I added two more eggs is this OK to do? Do I need to do anything for her. She is in a nest box around a few other hens, do I move her, leave her alone or what? I've never had a setting hen before. Does she need anything special done for her? I have not seen her move in 3 days.

How long between her starting to set the first egg and you adding the other two? The catch with adding eggs is to do it at the same time so that you aren't spreading the expected hatch date(s) to a point where she will be ready to get up/off the nest with her first hatched chick before the added eggs are ready to hatch.
 
I would leave her, and mark the eggs you want her to hatch since the other hens have access to her nest. That way you know if they have been laying in her nest, and you can remove the extras. Otherwise you're going to have eggs at all stages of incubation and what can happen is, when the first ones hatch the hen may stay on the nest for another day or so, but then take the hatched babies off the nest to care for them. That will leave the rest of the developing eggs to die. What I do with my broodies is: If I can, I separate the hen while she's brooding. I am able to divide my coop, so I just close off 1/2, leaving food and water for the broody so she can get up, move around, eat, drink, do her business. They will get off the nest about once a day to do this. After the chicks hatch, they stay separated for a week or so before I open the door between (it's a wood frame covered with chicken wire so they can still see each other) so the hen and chicks can reintegrate with the flock. I have one bossy hen who will pester the broody, but at this point she's still VERY protective of her chicks and won't take any nonsense. I've also seen my rooster get between the broody and the bossy one, moving the bossy one away. At this point the mama and babies have access to the run. Another week or so and I'll let them out of the run to free range. I have a few barn cats that I worry about which is why my hens and chicks don't get let outside right away. There are other experienced chicken-keepers who let their broodies set and hatch within the flock and have no problems with it. The advantage is, the chicks are already integrated into the flock. That worked for me this summer because a week or two after I integrated the hen and chicks, the hen was killed by a raccoon. The orphans were already part of the flock and the other hens left them alone. Last year I had a broody who insisted on setting in the favorite nest box, and no matter how many times and where I moved her, she wanted to set there. So I let her set and hatch and raise her babies within the flock. It all worked out just fine.

Good luck! Keep us updated on how it all turns out.
 
How long between her starting to set the first egg and you adding the other two? The catch with adding eggs is to do it at the same time so that you aren't spreading the expected hatch date(s) to a point where she will be ready to get up/off the nest with her first hatched chick before the added eggs are ready to hatch.
Yes! Good point!
 
How long between her starting to set the first egg and you adding the other two?  The catch with adding eggs is to do it at the same time so that you aren't spreading the expected hatch date(s) to a point where she will be ready to get up/off the nest with her first hatched chick before the added eggs are ready to hatch.
Added eggs the next day so hatch should be 1 day difference Right?
 
I would leave her, and mark the eggs you want her to hatch since the other hens have access to her nest. That way you know if they have been laying in her nest, and you can remove the extras. Otherwise you're going to have eggs at all stages of incubation and what can happen is, when the first ones hatch the hen may stay on the nest for another day or so, but then take the hatched babies off the nest to care for them. That will leave the rest of the developing eggs to die. What I do with my broodies is: If I can,  I separate the hen while she's brooding. I am able to divide my coop, so I just close off 1/2, leaving food and water for the broody so she can get up, move around, eat, drink, do her business. They will get off the nest about once a day to do this. After the chicks hatch, they stay separated for a week or so before I open the door between (it's a wood frame covered with chicken wire so they can still see each other) so the hen and chicks can reintegrate with the flock. I have one bossy hen who will pester the broody, but at this point she's still VERY protective of her chicks and won't take any nonsense. I've also seen my rooster get between the broody and the bossy one, moving the bossy one away. At this point the mama and babies have access to the run. Another week or so and I'll let them out of the run to free range. I have a few barn cats that I worry about which is why my hens and chicks don't get let outside right away. There are other experienced chicken-keepers who let their broodies set and hatch within the flock and have no problems with it. The advantage is, the chicks are already integrated into the flock. That worked for me this summer because a week or two after I integrated the hen and chicks, the hen was killed by a raccoon. The orphans were already part of the flock and the other hens left them alone. Last year I had a broody who insisted on setting in the favorite nest box, and  no matter how many times and where I moved her, she wanted to set there. So I let her set and hatch and raise her babies within the flock. It all worked out just fine. 

Good luck! Keep us updated on how it all turns out. 
Thanks for the tips! She started Saturday July 12th. I added 2 eggs Sunday the 13th because I wanted to be sure she was broody. Never had one before so wanted to be sure. Now question is that would make my hatch date August 3rd? Plus do I check under her every day for more eggs? Will that bother her? I am really excited but nervous about this!
 

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