Chicken gone broody. Help

[mmch618]

For a while now iv been noticing that one of my three chickens hasnt been laying an egg every day in the nesting box like the other two. I recently discovered her sitting on a nest of 6 eggs in our wood pile in the yard. I waited until she left then i took the eggs out and made it so she couldnt get in there again. We dont have any rosters so they will never hatch. Was this a mean thing to do? Will my chicken get depressed? Also can I still eat the eggs that were hidden. I wasnt sure because they have been sitting outside for a while so idk if they spoil.

 

[HEChicken]

I would eat the eggs but not sell or give them away since I don't know for sure. I just crack each one separately into a bowl - that way if one of them isn't good, I can throw just that one egg away.

Unfortunately, once a hen has gone broody, its near impossible to break her of it. If I were you, I'd look on my local Craigslist and try to get her a few fertile eggs to sit on. The only way I've really found to break a broody is to let her hatch and raise chicks.

Are you sure she is really broody though? It may have just been a hidden nest and she was on it when you found her because she was laying her egg for the day. If she laid it and then left, she isn't broody, but just choosing her own spot to lay.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with the above poster, sometimes chickens get a funny notion to lay somewhere else. If I get an unexpected drop in egg numbers, I start looking for a hidden nest. Usually, if you break it up like you did, they all go back to laying where they should.

If she puffs up to about 3 times her size and does a low throat growl, and gives you the beady eye...... then she is broody. She will refuse to get off the nest or do so with great resistance, and immediately go back.

This time of year, one can still get baby chicks, call your farm store and ask when they come in, cause slipping a few under her at night after she has been broody a couple of weeks, is the easiest way to freshen the age of your flock. She will raise them right with the others, and there will be no integration problems and you can get some different kinds.

I am praying for a broody hen right now.

Mrs K

 

[donrae]

If your hen was still going in to roost at night, she wasn't broody. Laying somewhere besides a nest box doesn't mean she's broody, it just means she wanted a change of scenery

I'd always do a float test when I found hidden eggs. Sinkers are good to eat, floaters go to the dogs. I'd sniff them first, any that smelled rotten didn't even get tested. Floaters aren't rotten, per se, but they're older and declined in quality.

 

[mmch618]

She has sense made a new nest somewhere else in the yard im assuming because she dosnt return to the coop at night anymore and i only see her out when shes eating ect. i have yet to find her new nest though. We have alot of places in our yard where she could hide it but iv been looking. Would the best corse of action be to place already hatched chicks under her or fertile eggs? I dont want to make her sad if she never gets to raise chicks.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you are catching her out eating, she is not broody, she just likes to lay somewhere else. Go out with your coffee in the morning, and listen..... take a chair and a book, but you should find the nest. If you want her to go broody, just leave her be, for a few days and see what happens. But if you find the nest now, you will know where she is.

Chickens really don't get sad, but if they are broody, they can sit for an amazing amount of time as in several weeks. If she is truly broody, either live chicks will work or fertile eggs, I've done both. If you use live chicks, wait till she has sat on the nest for at least 2 weeks, go down in the dark and just set the day old chick on her back, and the chick should just disappear under her. Her voice will change when she starts to feel the chick move and hear them peep. If she is not truly broody, she will kill the chicks. You can't make them be broody. An advantage of getting live chicks is that you can buy sex linked chicks so you know you are getting hens.

Or you can slip fertilized eggs under her, wait 20-21 days, and chicks should appear. Generally anything more than a 50% hatch is pretty good. One should mark the eggs with a pencil, and occasionally check for another hen's eggs getting in the nest. Too many eggs, and none will hatch as it is hard to keep them at the right temperature. Of those that hatch, you can expect about 50/50 males and females, but it can be very one sided, where you get mostly males or females. You kind of need to have a plan for the extra roosters if you go this route.

Mrs K