First time Broody BO Sitting on Nest of 14 Eggs - 1 Week to go!

[TLHatton]

Woosaw.......let them be. If you keep playing with them they definitly will not hatch. 5 days is too soon. If they haven't hatched in another 17 days, ok they're duds. Let nature take its course.

 

[KayTee]

Boisechick, I know it's really difficult to be 'hands off' on your first broody hatch, but TLHatton is right - the best thing you can do is let your broody sit on the eggs and see what happens. I know that it is frustrating not to know what is happening, but you can really do more harm than good by checking on the eggs too often. Imagine planting daffodil bulbs in your garden and then digging them up every couple of days to see if they have grown roots or not! Even with a first time broody, nature makes certain that she knows what to do.

I would suggest that you leave your girl on her eggs (making certain she gets off the nest at least once a day to relieve herself) until day 21/22. If you have extremely bad luck and not a single egg out of 14 has hatched (and I would be surprised there weren't at least a few fertile eggs in the nest) then you can always look around and buy some day old chicks to slip under your broody hen. That way she will stop brooding and start raising the chicks as if they had hatched out of the eggs she has been sitting on.

As hard as it is, try to be patient and wait it out. In the last few days before the hatch is due look around for sources of day old chicks, just in case, but cross your fingers and hope for the best. As I said before, I have had eggs that I was certain were duds that hatched into beautiful chicks!

Please keep us updated - we would love to know how everything turns out.

 

[BoiseChik]

Ok I will wait it out. I thought egg candling was 'what you did' when you had a nest of fertilized eggs, but just waiting to see is ok with me too. ;-} I will definitely update you guys when we get further along. Thanks for the input.

 

[BoiseChik]

Hello again, I have another question for when/if the eggs hatch. My broody hen is still doing a great job faithfully sitting on her eggs and we are at day 7. Her nest is in a nesting box that is off the floor of the coop about 8". On the floor of the coop I have a tub of water and tub of food. I'm wondering if I should move her nest to the ground where her chicks can get in and out of the nest to get water or food? Or I might be able to build a ramp for them to get up and down...? (pictures to follow)
Another question if just a couple eggs hatch, do you think I can add some chicks to her bunch? Do they have to be day old chicks, or if I can only find week old, for example, would that be ok?

 

[BoiseChik]

 

[BoiseChik]

 

[GitaBooks]

Congrats on the chicks!

After the chicks hatch the hen doesn't usually want to stay on the nest, I would introduce her to a new nest that is easier for the chicks to get into, one that is on the ground. If her chicks have just hatched you can introduce day-olds, but she will likely attack new chicks if it is later and chicks that are older aren't likely to bond to a new mother.

Best of luck!

 

[BoiseChik]

Thank you, but at this point we are just hoping for chicks. ;-] Our BO hen has been sitting on eggs for 7 days, so two weeks to go. My understanding was that chicks tend to hatch over a day or two. So should I move the nest to the ground before they hatch?

 

[GitaBooks]

You could probably wait until afterward the hatch to move them, since the broody will remain on the nest until the chicks are hatched and dry. However, chicks might fall out, so care should be taken they don't.

 

[KayTee]

My most recent broody insisted on nesting in the highest box possible in the coop! Fortunately the 'nest' was in a cardboard box, so the evening that I started to hear peeping inside the eggs I moved the box (hen, eggs and all) down onto the floor, in a corner where I could barricade it off from the rest of the coop for a day or two. I left a shallow dish of chick mash and a bowl of water with marbles in it for the hen (the chicks are able to eat and drink when they are a few hours old, although they can survive without food or water for 2-3 days as they absorb the yolk sac from the egg). The marbles (or small stones) are very important - they leave enough space for the hen to get her beak in between and drink, but mean that the water is not too deep for the chicks. If day old chicks fall into a bowl of water they risk drowning.

With the setup you have in the photo I would suggest you move your broody to a new place / cardboard box with her eggs a day or two before they are due to hatch (move the eggs first, and the broody last) - then you won't risk any chicks falling out of the nest and not being able to get back up.

If you don't get as many chicks as you want then you can always add a few more, but you need to do it within a few days of your own chicks hatching, and you need chicks that are no more than a couple of days old. Chickens are notorious for not being able to count - they don't know how many eggs they sat on, or how many chicks they have, so she won't know that you added extra.

However, if the chicks you add are more than a day or two old then they won't 'imprint' the hen as their mother. This means they won't respond to her calls and follow her around, and she won't be interested in them if they are not making their 'looking for a mommy' call. Week old chicks would be too old - they are no longer looking for a mom, but just getting on with things on their own.

Best of luck!