Broody off of Nest

[Tinkertori]

Yesterday morning my broodys first baby hatched. On her trip out for food the baby came with but a hawk showed up. They both hid and were fine but we estimate the broody hen was off her nest for atleast an hour. We relocated her, the baby, and the eggs and they didn’t immediately settle. She probably spent over 2 hours off the eggs. She has been laying on them since about 4pm yesterday. It was a warm day most of the day and I’m wondering how viable the eggs still are?

 

[sourland]

Eggs should still be viable, but she is biologically programmed to leave the nest so that her chick can hatch within 24 - 36 hours of the first chick hatching. Have a plan 'B' in mind in case you need to incubate the eggs. Good luck.

 

[Tinkertori]

Have a plan 'B' in mind in case you need to incubate the eggs. Good luck.

Any suggestions for plan b. We don’t have an incubator and probably don’t hAve the money for one either

 

[50-45-1]

Was this a controlled batch? All eggs started at the same time?

 

[Tinkertori]

Was this a controlled batch? All eggs started at the same time?

No these are free range chickens and she brooded without us knowing for atleast a week

 

[50-45-1]

So your remaining eggs may be all over the place for hatching spanning weeks. She can not possibly stay on the eggs to hatch them without her live chick perishing.
I would see if I could borrow an incubator from a friend. Or do you have another her broody to slip the eggs under?
You could still add any new chicks slipping them under her at night for up to a week.

 

[Smileybans]

There’s also lots of diy incubators online. The materials are relatively cheap and easy to get ahold of in a pinch. I made one out of a tote, heating pad, meat thermometer, pillow and a bowl of water. If you can’t borrow an incubator or use another broody a diy incubator might work.

 

[Tinkertori]

She can not possibly stay on the eggs to hatch them without her live chick perishing.

Can you clarify why, the chick and mom have access to food and clean water. And the baby spends most of the time under or next to her mother when the are not pecking around

 

[NatJ]

She can not possibly stay on the eggs to hatch them without her live chick perishing.

Can you clarify why, the chick and mom have access to food and clean water. And the baby spends most of the time under or next to her mother when the are not pecking around

I think 50-45-1 is assuming that the chick cannot or will not go eat while the hen stays on the nest. The incident with the hawk shows that the food was far enough away that the chick should not be going that far alone.

But you say that you've moved the hen, chicks, and eggs. If they are now in a safe place with food and water very close to the nest, then I agree with you Tinkertori that the chick should do fine. Chicks will pop out from under the hen to eat if the food is close enough.

You might still need an incubator if you want the rest of the eggs to hatch. The hen will probably quit being broody in another few days. She will not want to sit on the nest, because her instincts will be telling her to walk around and show the chick how to eat, drink, dustbathe, scratch for bugs, and so forth.

 

[Tinkertori]

But you say that you've moved the hen, chicks, and eggs. If they are now in a safe place with food and water very close to the nest, then I agree with you Tinkertori that the chick should do fine. Chicks will pop out from under the hen to eat if the food is close enough.

they are no more than a couple of inches from food and water in what we call our broody condos. It’s where we try and keep our new moms and chicks for the first couple weeks to protect from predators at night.