Egg setting

[SuburbianFarmChic]

Hello everyone! I have a question regarding setting time on eggs.
My mallard hen has a clutch of approximately 10-12 eggs. She has been laying for about a month, so the eggs have experienced very cold ( some freezing) temps. She laid the eggs under a tree and has started sitting on them the last couple of days. However, she comes into the pen at night so they’re not being heated by her. So, can she set during the day and off the nest at night and can the eggs still hatch? Any suggestions as to what to do? Thankyou!

 

[Chookchicken]

Once they start developing they need heat. If she gets of them for (rough estimate here) 11hrs a day they won’t be warm enough to develop the whole way. You could try putting them in the nesting box to see if she’ll sit on them there. If not you could get an incubator. Most of them I don’t think would hatch, as normally the hatch rate for month old eggs isn’t very high. I hope this helps

 

[SuburbianFarmChic]

Yes Thankyou! When hens go broody do they eat less than normal? How often are they usually off the nest?

 

[Chookchicken]

Yes Thankyou! When hens go broody do they eat less than normal? How often are they usually off the nest?

My hens generally get off for 5-20 minutes everyday. When their of the nest they eat and drink a lot, they’ll preen for about 30 seconds, same with digging. It depends on the weather for how long they get off the eggs. The good thing about broody hens is that the eggs aren’t going to get to hot, or cold, as they monitor all that kind of stuff themselves