Warning... nervous ramble ahead... So first of all, I'm not even sure that it is day 21. I started counting from the first day the (Buff Orp) hen set on the nest and stayed there all day (the previous day she set for a few hours only), so not sure how accurate the day count is. Also not exactly sure that all the eggs she sat on are the original eggs because a few of the other hens (predictably) laid eggs on her clutch (12 eggs) before I had the good sense to mark them, around day 8 or so. All of a sudden, about day 12, I found a broken egg in the nest as a bossy prod. red hen was leaving it. I promptly moved broody to a dog kennel in a separately fenced area per info I've seen posted here, but left the door open so as not to freak her out. The next time I peeked in on her, I saw the same aggressive prod. red hen pecking under her and guessed that she had been eating the eggs! She had actually flown over both fences to get to the broody's nest. The count was down to 7 eggs. So I kept the door closed from then on and the count stayed at 7. I will worry about the egg eater after this hatch is over! I candled the eggs a few times and although I never saw any veins, the dark spot inside has gotten bigger and floated on top when I rolled it slightly, so I figured they are developing. They have gotten heavier and feel... I dont' know how to describe it.... thicker? Like there is a baby chick in them! Maybe that's just me being anxious for babies. No peeps, no pips, and I'm sooo ready to either see signs of hatching or get the eggtopsy over with to see what might have gone wrong. I should mention that the broody is a first timer as well. If you got this far, thank you for reading, and any words of advice, encouragement greatly appreciated.
I'd give her a few or even several more days, since you're not sure, but sniff the nest daily -- hopefully if one is going to explode, you'll catch it in time. Talk about learning by messing up -- sounds about like the first time I let a broody sit, before BYC. Think how much smarter you will be next time! I usually let them sit in the coop and have had pretty good luck, but I'm retired so can check often, most days. They'll certainly lay in the nest where the broody is, and on top of that the broody will steal eggs from other nests. Good luck! This might interest you, if you haven't seen it: http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html
WOOOO!!! Happy dance! There is a hole in the side of one of the eggs under the hen that is gradually getting bigger and I heard PEEPING! So now, no more peeking and I will be a good girl and wait until Momma Hen lets me see my new baby fuzzy butts!!! I'm so excited! Thanks for the moral support and advice on earlier threads, guys. Looks like my counting was just off. Silly me. I'm gonna be a chicky mom!
We will need UPDATES of course on how this progresses and if your new broody hen is a 'good mom'. I'm GETTING a broody hen this weekend and she is on eggs already, so I am hoping she can finish out my hova bator incubator chicks! Also have eggs in my friends 'bator. So we will just see. In the meantime I have to learn how to do it all the right way, so any threads you can send me to for advice would be GOOD!
Oh wow... the sight of the day old chicky baby this morning made me giddy! I snapped some quick photos before the chick dove back under Momma but none of them turned out very well. I made a short video that I'm uploading right now to YouTube and will link here for anyone who wants to share the excitement with me! I did not expect to feel such a surge of pride and pure joy to see my first little one. I removed the broken shell and fed Momma by hand since she doesn't like to leave the nest. I am totally hooked. Edit for question... Momma sure does like to peck baby on the head or foot. Is that normal? Video link: Sorry for the horizontalness. I might have been a bit excited.
