Do broodie hens ruin eggs?

[onthespot]

I usually collect my eggs once a day, in the evening. I have a couple of broody hens right now, and I don't want them laying right now so I just let them be broody. Does it ruin the eggs to be sat on for a few hours before they are collected, or should I move them to a different pen and hope they stay broody (and non-productive)?

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

are you asking if broody's lay, they don't so any eggs they are on are a different hen's it dosen't ruin the eggs but if you miss them you might have a problem

 

[onthespot]

What I mean is, does a broody setting on a freshly laid egg by another hen start it incubating? Does it make it a bad risk for shipping or for selling as an eating egg? In this warm weather anything could happen anyhow, but just wondering if a couple hours incubating after they are laid is enough to make them start growing, then if you shipped them the embryo would die... if that make sense.

 

[Ducklove334]

why would you NOT want your hens laying eggs for you to eat? I don't get it.

does it help to know that i think it's after the first few hours the embryos brain is developed and after 24 the heart starts beating?

I might be wrong, but thats what I've read

letting your hens be constantly broody without the purpose of hatching chicks is cruel IMO, hens will sit and sit and sit and sit for MONTHS, waiting for those chicks to hatch, it wears them down badly.

we had a hen sit for about 7 weeks straight, when her second clutch hatched, she was SO thin, it's been almost three weeks and for a cochin she's no where near as fat as she was.

we have another hen thats been sitting for almost 5, because i wanted her to incubate some Muscovy eggs, she's getting thin too, but is still in good spirits, she's got about 9 days left on all her eggs, but the times she's done hatching out these 'scovie eggs for me, she'll also have 7 chicks due to hatch the same time, so she'll still get to be a momma.

if for whatever reason you don't want your hens laying eggs for consuption, if you've got a rooster, let them hatch babies, they won't lay whle they're broody or for the 4-8 weeks they're raising the babies.

ETA: so yes, a hen sitting on a freshly laid egg if theres a rooster, ALL of your eggs will be fertile and can grow into babies, a few hours starts the growth process but nothing that LOOKS like a chick

 

[thechickenchick]

No a few hours under a broody should not cause a problem. The outside temps are getting just as high as a broody temp in some areas. So I think the main thing is just to be sure you are collecting the eggs daily. This is what I am doing currently and have not seen a problem. I also mark the broody eggs so I don't accidentally gather a wrong one!!

I hope that answers your question. I tend to "talk" in circles!!

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

the eggs will deteriorate because of the heat of the hen, it would really depend on how long the egg was under the hen before you pick it up... does that sound right. I move my broodies just so I dont have to worry and use wood eggs untill I've got hatching eggs or i'm planting chicks

 

[onthespot]

Well, not that it has anything to do with the question I asked, but since DuckLove asked... I am not letting them stay broody for months and months on end. They have turkey eggs to set, so that should keep them out of commission for a while. Why don't I want them laying? I have them in the same pen as some younger pullets that were an experimental cross and I want to know what color eggs are coming from the second generation without having to second guess if it is the mama hens or the baby hens. If the mama hens are broody, every egg laid is from the baby hens. Hopefully the turkey eggs hatch after thirty days and they can get off of being broody. Hope that helps you put your mind at rest that I am not brooding my hens to death. They are in a fully covered run with a nice afternoon breeze. They are not panting when I go in the afternoon to get eggs, so I assume they are as comfortable as possible given the weather.

Thanks all for the answers. I am guessing a couple hours wouldn't matter either, just wanted others opinions, actual facts even, LOL if possible! Opinions greatly appreciated!

 

[Ducklove334]

I wasn't meaning to sound cross, just wasn't understanding, but now I do, I like learning

sorry if I sounded like a grouchie mc. grouch.

 

[rancher hicks]

I don't understand how a broody could go thin. Don't you have to supply food and water and doesn't she get up to eat and poop?

 

[onthespot]

Some do, some don't. These girls are brooding about two feet from the food and water. I drag them out of their nests every afternoon to make sure they are stretching their legs, eating, drinking, pooping OUT of the nest boxes, and to check for the eggs. The other hens won't lay in the other nest boxes, and these girls won't set in the other nest boxes. They are all claiming a pink plastic dog crate as their own. The young birds go in with the broody hens and lay their eggs in the pink box. The broodies hook those eggs under themselves and set them till I come get them. I don't really care if the turkey eggs hatch or not. There are only two of them, they were shipped to a friend, she didn't want them. I took them and put them under the broodies to keep them from laying for the next several weeks so hopefully more of the younger pullets will start to lay in the mean time.