Broody Hens are Box Swappers...what to do?

[MyChickenShack]

First, I'm a relatively new chicken owner...next month mine (mail order) will be 1 year old. 2 hens have gone broody. Wanted some chicks so didn't break them. They are exhausting me! My husband, with more experience then me, felt leaving them in the nesting boxes would be ok, but they have chosen popular boxes and I think may have been disturbed and ended up moving to another box. The eggs of both clutches have been left at different times for an unknown amount of time and the eggs, when checked, were no longer warm. I have 2 Rubbermaid totes that I have put straw in and was going to transfer these hens tonight and make an attempt to candle the eggs and see if we can move them and hopefully end all of this moving around. My concern is are the eggs even good, will I be able to even tell (this will be my first time even trying this) and, I hate to think too far ahead, but what if this is a flop! Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[featheredplanets]

Separate them into brooding pens or dog crates. With brooding in nest boxes you risk broken eggs, and as you stated, nest box swapping and added eggs. Be sure to mark any eggs you place under a broody, imo, best to put the eggs under the hen at the same time. Eggs can withstand quite a few hours of no heat and days without turning, but it really depends on where they are development wise. I would place the more developed ones under one hen and the younger eggs under the other hen. im sure others will give their opinion too

 

[Kessel23]

Alright, I would start by moving the hens to a different area away from the rest of the flock. I prefer to keep broody birds in a large dog crate or somewhere that they will not be disturbed. Once you move the hens I would candle the eggs, keep only eggs that look to be the same age, if you have eggs in different stages of development then when the more developed eggs hatch first the others will be left in the nest by the mom. It might just be best to trash the eggs under them now and collect a new clutch of eggs for them to set. Make sure to candle the eggs in the dark, it wont take a very strong light, I use the flashlight on my phone to candle eggs.

Once you have the broody hens settled in their new homes with new or old clutches then make sure they have food and water available and room to get off the nest. If you do not have an area that has enough room for them to get off and go to the bathroom then you should let them out twice a day to do their business. Make sure the hen gets off the nest though, you don't want her pooping on the eggs. I ran into a problem with one of my broody birds where she would not get off the nest to poop! Some birds do this so then need to be carefully removed from the nest twice a day. Most birds will get off by themselves.

 

[MyChickenShack]

Thanks! Well, I candled them last night, easier than I thought, I mean as far as their temperament toward me at night. Some were obviously fertile, some not, and a few were questionable. I was actually shocked to see that some appeared viable. I don't know all the proper lingo, but I could see a web of vessels and something moving or thumping ... that was neat. I disguarded what I felt wasn't viable and I'm going to recheck in a week (especially because of those questionable ones. )Thanks for the tip about removing the hens from the nest to poop. My white hen is good about moving...but I was wondering last night about my Rhode Island Red...she seems like she's in it for the long haul...I was actually wondering if she had even gotten off the next yesterday at all and was worried...I don't work today so I can be out at the coop more often and monitor and if she doesn't get off the nest I will take her off.

 

[MyChickenShack]

Thanks to everyone's advice so far...my mom and dad actually have a dog crate...didn't even know they had it. They are bringing it to me tomorrow. Having been off work today and outside all day, I have been able to monitor things closer. By 11:00, I hadn't seen either hen off the nest, so taking Kessel23's advice from yesterday, I removed them from the nesting box today for a bit and they both ate and drank! I was relieved. And the boxes were clean...thank goodness. No poop. And I slept better last night!This is my first go around with this and I'm finally feeling like there might be a success story after all!

 

[MyChickenShack]

So I candled eggs last night, day 12....I see the air sac and the egg is much darker, as if the chick is growing and taking up space in the egg. I was expecting to see "kicking" or "squirming" around, like a baby...this is my first time with a broody hen, and second time candeling (first time was last week). Most of my eggs are brown and that makes it difficult....Am I suppose to see "movement"? Also, second question...one hen was sitting on 9 now 8! And I saw a few bits of left over shell in the nest. Did she eat that one? I had read they may sometimes disguard and egg that isn't viable, but wasn't expecting that...And 3rd question...I've been reading about mites being a problem with broody hens...Usually I throw a little DE in the nesting boxes. I have transferred these hens into milk crates sitting in a dog crate. Would it be safe to lightly dust the hens now as they are sitting>... thanks!