Broody young cochin help!! Sitting on an empty nest and not laying eggs

[annmarie33]

I have a black laced cochin that is 6 months old. She was laying an egg or 2 a day for a month. Then I started noticing her not with the flock. She stays in the coop all day and we make her get out at least once a day. Around day 4 of her being broody we took her two eggs. I thought that would stop her from being broody but she still is sitting on her nest she's made in the coop. Since then she has not laid any more eggs. This is confusing to me. Doesn't she know there are no eggs in the nest and why isn't she laying more?

I took the eggs and incubated them myself. We have a rooster and I looked today and day 5 they are fertile and growing on track. What would be the best plan- should I just do nothing and let her continue being broody with no eggs? Should I get the eggs that she was sitting on that are in the incubator and put them back in the nest for her to sit on and grow herself? Or should I wait until they hatch and then put day old chicks under her at dusk and hope for the best?

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[nchls school]

I have a black laced cochin that is 6 months old. She was laying an egg or 2 a day for a month. Then I started noticing her not with the flock. She stays in the coop all day and we make her get out at least once a day. Around day 4 of her being broody we took her two eggs. I thought that would stop her from being broody but she still is sitting on her nest she's made in the coop. Since then she has not laid any more eggs. This is confusing to me. Doesn't she know there are no eggs in the nest and why isn't she laying more? Many hens will continue to brood even when the nest is empty. Unlike wild birds who will not brood an empty nest our chickens will keep trying to hatch eggs even when there are none.

I took the eggs and incubated them myself. We have a rooster and I looked today and day 5 they are fertile and growing on track. What would be the best plan- should I just do nothing and let her continue being broody with no eggs? Should I get the eggs that she was sitting on that are in the incubator and put them back in the nest for her to sit on and grow herself? Or should I wait until they hatch and then put day old chicks under her at dusk and hope for the best? All your questions are options that are possible. You can try to break her broodiness by shutting her away from the nest. You can give the eggs back or give her the chicks after they hatch. I would give her the eggs back to brood and hatch.

Any advice is appreciated! 

 

[lindalouly]

I think it would be cool to watch her hatch her own eggs and do the mother hen thing, but I have no experience in either... Just seems cool to me!!!!

 

[annmarie33]

This is day 4 of incubation

 

[annmarie33]

The other hen has stopped laying in the coop so I am thinking I need to make a new coop nest next to the original coop and put the hen in there so she can be by herself and the other hen can feel comfortable laying in the coop again. I think I will put 2 eggs back under her but do you think it matters when?

 

[nchls school]

The other hen has stopped laying in the coop so I am thinking I need to make a new coop nest next to the original coop and put the hen in there so she can be by herself and the other hen can feel comfortable laying in the coop again. I think I will put 2 eggs back under her but do you think it matters when?

Moving a broody hen can result in her abandoning her eggs. Should you try this, do so at night; there's a better chance the hen will accept the move. If you move the broody hen make sure she is going to stick with her nest before you give the eggs back to her; give her some dummy eggs to start with. Most hens will accept anything round and light colored like golf balls, white light bulbs, etc..

 

[annmarie33]

Well all 4 of her eggs were developing great on day 7 and she was still sitting in the coop all day. We only have 3 chickens bc the other 4 got killed by Hawks or dogs. So there is only 1 other hen and she isn't broody. Infant I can't find her eggs anywhere I guess she is laying somewhere besides the coop. But I just decided to put 2 of the 7 day old eggs under her last night and she is sitting on them tucked under her feet. So that's good! I decided we probably didn't need to move her and hopefully the other chickens won't hurt the chicks. Do you think that is a good plan since we only have 1 other hen and 1 rooster that sleep in there? Do I check on them on day 18?