Broody Wyandotte question

[roseapalooza]

Good morning all! My favorite chicken, a blue laced Wyandotte named Ginger Farley, has gone broody since yesterday! We have a BLW rooster who loves her (literally!) and all the eggs we've eaten have been fertile. I'd love for her you raise a clutch but I'm sure she can only have 1 or 2 eggs underneath her. What should I do? I know its not good to have only 1 chick and that the more eggs she sits the better. I can buy fertile eggs if needed but I'd rather hatch our own if possible. If I wait for 6 or 7 more eggs to add the ones she's sitting already will hatch a week before they new ones are ready to hatch??? Any advice is much appreciated, I'm such a newb :-/

(Pics of the mumma and daddy to be)

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Give her golf balls until you collect enough eggs then stick them all under her at once so they hatch the same time as if they are a week off when the first eggs hatch she will abandone the rest btw I have a broody wyandotte to shes a black laced red my roo is a blrw

 

[bobbi-j]

Do you only have the two chickens? If she is broody, she will not be laying any more eggs until after chicks have hatched and she has weaned them. If you have more hens, let her set either on fake eggs or the ones she's currently on until you have the 6 or 7 you wanted to put under her. You would then need to take the fake eggs or the ones she's currently on and get rid of them, setting the rest all at once. If you have other hens and she would be setting in the coop with the flock, you will want to mark the eggs you give her so you can remove other additions daily. First, though, I'd suggest checking under her to see exactly how many she has. (I had a hen hatch out a single chick last year. He turned out fine. Bonded with mom and then was part of the flock after she weaned him.)

 

[roseapalooza]

Thank you both so much for your helpful responses! Bobbi-j, yes, we have 4 Wyandotte hens plus the rooster (as well as 5 blue australorpes but they're not laying yet). We get 1-2 eggs a day at present, its the end of winter down here so not all laying daily yet. I actually have 3 eggs left from when we treated them with ivermectin. They'd be about 3 weeks old and just been stored in the pantry - would it be ok to put those under her until we have enough or would they likely explode? And if I put old eggs/ golf balls under her do I save the ones she's on now&put them back under when I have enough? She's only been sitting 24hrs. Thanks again!

 

[bobbi-j]

Thank you both so much for your helpful responses! Bobbi-j, yes, we have 4 Wyandotte hens plus the rooster (as well as 5 blue australorpes but they're not laying yet). We get 1-2 eggs a day at present, its the end of winter down here so not all laying daily yet. I actually have 3 eggs left from when we treated them with ivermectin. They'd be about 3 weeks old and just been stored in the pantry - would it be ok to put those under her until we have enough or would they likely explode? And if I put old eggs/ golf balls under her do I save the ones she's on now&put them back under when I have enough? She's only been sitting 24hrs. Thanks again!

You can't save the others. If she's already been on them for 24 hours, they will have started to develop and will stop when you take them away. They wouldn't start again. (Actually, you could still eat them at this point because the only thing happening right now is some cell division. After Day 3, though, they start to develop veins and may be bloody. Right now, though, they still look just like the ones you ate for breakfast unless you look REALLY closely.)

You have a couple of options here. You can just leave her with the ones she has, take them away and give her golf balls until you've collected more, or collect more and then take those away.

The main thing you want to do is set all the eggs you want her to hatch at the same time. Otherwise you end up with a "staggered hatch". That means the chicks will be at several stages of development, and when the first ones hatch, mama will wait about 24 hours and then take them off the nest. (At least that's what my broodies do) The rest of the developing chicks will die in the shell.

I would not give her the 3 week old ones, as they may be too old to develop. I would just discard those if they were laid right after treatment.

 

[Abriana]

Before you can get eggs, put golf balls, fake wooden/ceramic eggs, or any round egg-like thing underneath her. If you put some eggs under her today, and then some tomorrow, and then some next week, you will have what is called a staggered hatch. Some will hatch earlier than others, and the broody won't sit on remaining eggs for long, even if they are going to hatch soon, so they will die. Always assemble your clutch and then give it to her so that she gets all at once and all chicks will hatch at roughly the same time. I had a staggered hatch once (I put one egg underneath her three days after letting her sit on some) and my bantam tried her best, but she had to keep getting up to help her chicks eat and drink and the other egg didn't survive. I always put all eggs under her at once after that!
I have hatched a lot under a broody and would love to help with any questions you might have! Just ask!
I wish you the best of luck!

 

[roseapalooza]

Before you can get eggs, put golf balls, fake wooden/ceramic eggs, or any round egg-like thing underneath her. If you put some eggs under her today, and then some tomorrow, and then some next week, you will have what is called a staggered hatch. Some will hatch earlier than others, and the broody won't sit on remaining eggs for long, even if they are going to hatch soon, so they will die. Always assemble your clutch and then give it to her so that she gets all at once and all chicks will hatch at roughly the same time. I had a staggered hatch once (I put one egg underneath her three days after letting her sit on some) and my bantam tried her best, but she had to keep getting up to help her chicks eat and drink and the other egg didn't survive. I always put all eggs under her at once after that!
I have hatched a lot under a broody and would love to help with any questions you might have! Just ask!
I wish you the best of luck!

Thank you very much for your kind advice! A new development: she was off the eggs for at least 2 hours this morning. She was on them all day yesterday, still on when I shut them in last night but when I let them out this morning she headed out with the rest of the flock and stayed out for nearly 2 hours. I cleaned the coop and marked the eggs (which were cold) and she's back on them now.... very confusing!!!

 

[roseapalooza]

You can't save the others. If she's already been on them for 24 hours, they will have started to develop and will stop when you take them away. They wouldn't start again. (Actually, you could still eat them at this point because the only thing happening right now is some cell division. After Day 3, though, they start to develop veins and may be bloody. Right now, though, they still look just like the ones you ate for breakfast unless you look REALLY closely.)

You have a couple of options here. You can just leave her with the ones she has, take them away and give her golf balls until you've collected more, or collect more and then take those away.

The main thing you want to do is set all the eggs you want her to hatch at the same time. Otherwise you end up with a "staggered hatch". That means the chicks will be at several stages of development, and when the first ones hatch, mama will wait about 24 hours and then take them off the nest. (At least that's what my broodies do) The rest of the developing chicks will die in the shell.

I would not give her the 3 week old ones, as they may be too old to develop. I would just discard those if they were laid right after treatment.

Thank you for your egg-sellent advice ;-D To clarify, I wondered could I give her the old eggs to keep her broody while I assemble a clutch? I know they won't develop as they've been sat pointy end up for weeks! I could just leave the 2 she has now but I'm squeamish about letting them potentially develop for 7 days or more and then destroying them!!
Also, she was off the nest for at least 2 hours this morning (but back on now) so I'm not even sure if she is TRULY broody....?

 

[bobbi-j]

Thank you for your egg-sellent advice ;-D To clarify, I wondered could I give her the old eggs to keep her broody while I assemble a clutch? I know they won't develop as they've been sat pointy end up for weeks! I could just leave the 2 she has now but I'm squeamish about letting them potentially develop for 7 days or more and then destroying them!!
Also, she was off the nest for at least 2 hours this morning (but back on now) so I'm not even sure if she is TRULY broody....?

OK, I understand now! Yes - you could give her the ones you know won't hatch to set on until you get a clutch together for her. I would still remove the two she's on now so you don't get a staggered hatch.

A hen will get off the nest daily to eat, drink, poop, dust bathe, etc. Sometimes it's for as little as 15 minutes, sometimes it's longer. If it's warm where you are, those eggs won't cool down too much if she's on for a longer time. A truly broody hen will sleep in the nest, get cranky when you go near - she'll puff up, make growling noises, flatten down on the nest, sometimes peck at you when you go near.

 

[roseapalooza]

OK, I understand now! Yes - you could give her the ones you know won't hatch to set on until you get a clutch together for her. I would still remove the two she's on now so you don't get a staggered hatch.

A hen will get off the nest daily to eat, drink, poop, dust bathe, etc. Sometimes it's for as little as 15 minutes, sometimes it's longer. If it's warm where you are, those eggs won't cool down too much if she's on for a longer time. A truly broody hen will sleep in the nest, get cranky when you go near - she'll puff up, make growling noises, flatten down on the nest, sometimes peck at you when you go near.

Ok great! I'll take the 2 she's on now&give her the old ones and start collecting. Worst case she's not *really* broody and we make a really big omelette next week
She definitely exhibits all those behaviors, staying put, puffing up and growling when you try to touch her etc so I guess we'll see. It's really cold where we are, was about 0°c this morning when she was off them so I'm not sure what she's up to. Time will tell! Thanks again for all of your advice, very much appreciated