Broody

[Gary palmer]

Hen has been sitting on eggs for about a week. She was off eggs when I got home. How long can the eggs be left alone?

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Your chicken should come off the eggs once a day for food, water and to void her bowels. How long has she been off the eggs?

 

[Gary palmer]

Not sure, I was just wondering how long was too long. My first flock and first broody hen, all very new and exciting

 

[Gary palmer]

Just got back home, so she's been off for off for at least an hour. I think she's in the wrong nesting box

 

[Lady of McCamley]

As stated by the other poster, hens regularly come off the nest once a day for about 20 minutes to eat and relieve. In warm weather, they can stay off for about an hour. Cooler weather they tend to make short trips.

Confusion with a new broody often does cause them to not return to the same nest. That is one reason having a brooding in her own hutch/pen prevents these kind of mishaps.

Eggs are surprisingly hardy, and while hatch rate will often suffer, being chilled is not the end of everything. Put her back on the nest and then preferably rig up some sort of fencing that prevents her from getting confused as to what nest she should return.

If a hen is consistently leaving eggs for portions of the day, she is not really devoted to the brood. Commercial hens often semi-brood, or "sulk" as their genetics have been tinkered with over the years for egg production and not brooding hormones. I have seen commercial line birds fake a brood for a bit but not stay the course.

It really varies with the hen, and having isolation for the hen from interruptions (others pushing her off the nest) and confusion when she's in the yard can definitely increase your likelihood of success.

Let us know how it is going. Good luck with your new brood
LofMc

 

[Gary palmer]

I did put her back on. She was sitting on a new egg in the next door box. I put the new egg in with the others in her box and put her on top. Will she sit an extra week to hatch the new egg, or is she done once the first egg hatches?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I did put her back on. She was sitting on a new egg in the next door box. I put the new egg in with the others in her box and put her on top. Will she sit an extra week to hatch the new egg, or is she done once the first egg hatches?

Oh...don't put the new egg in with the already developed eggs!

Sorry, that creates a staggered hatch...the hen typically waits for about 2 days after the first hatch for all chicks to hatch. She then should get up and take chicks to food and water and begin scratching lessons.

To stagger a hatch confuses a hen...she doesn't know if she should get up and take care of babes abandoning the chick she hears in the shell or stay on the nest leaving the older hatched chicks to fend for themselves.

Always set all eggs at the same time, mark them (I put the date set so I don't forget), then make sure no other eggs are added afterwards to avoid a staggered hatch.

LofMc

 

[Gary palmer]

Learning a lot since I got these birds.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

We all have! Still do. Every day.

Have fun with your broody gal. Watching a mother hens with chicks is a wonderful experience.

Lofmc

 

[Gary palmer]

Next time, if I put hen and eggs in my jacuzzi tub, will she stay in there or run around the house?