First time broody hen and first time human overseer

[tess36]

Hello! I apologize in advance for what's probably going to be a lengthy post. I've got a Black Copper Marans that got sneakily broody on me. This is her first clutch and my first time worrying about one, lol. About a month ago, one of my three BCMs met me at the food bowls early in the morning when I went out to fill the bowls, change out the water, and release the "tiny dinosaurs." My flock of ducks and chickens are secured in the run from evening to morning, put up and let out by myself or my husband. That morning, she looked good and was her usual talkative self. I saw her again (I think looking at the calendar, it was 5/4) out "free" again, only I thought she looked a little rough and she acted very skittish of me. At the time, I thought she was spooked from being caught out all night away from the flock. Then, I thought I had lost her to a predator. Well, we finally found her on a clutch three days ago. Today I was was able to see the eggs by sheer luck of seeing her out for her daily feed/stretch/poop. She has nested under a zero turn mower, in a pole shed. After reading what's involved in attempt to move a broody without breaking the brood, and seeing how she has shoe horned herself up under that mower, we decided to let her be. I counted twelve eggs while she was gone. There is a foul odor, but not overwhelming, if that makes sense? I can also see two eggs that are not with the clutch, off about 18in away from it. I have merely "checked" on her a couple times daily since finding her, but my husband said his attempt at moving her when he first found her, not realizing she was broody resulted in hissing and pecking. I did not see any broken eggs, but there is that moderate odor, and I see flies, but no more than I see around the food bowls and such. Once she is back on nest, I don't here or see flies anymore. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that it's ok to continue to let her sit, but I'm not sure how long? I'm reassured that she's coming off to meet her daily needs. If her clutch turns out to not be viable, will she figure this out on her own and abandon? I guess I'm just a nervous Nelly. Thank you for those who persevered to the end of this and have some insight, suggestions, or comments.

Edited to say I just noticed one of those eggs pushed off to the side is broken, so hopefully that is the origin of the smell? Pic added to show how tucked up she is. Her head is peeking from behind the mower deck on the right side.

 

[TK421]

50 million years of reproduction says that she’ll be ok. I would collect and throw away the 2 eggs that are off to the side and let her run her course. Since you don’t know when she started sitting vs laying, count 21 days from the first day you found her sitting or when your husband found her hissing. Then buffer it by a week (2-3 days for late hatching and 2-3 days for her to monitor her new clutch) and i bet you see her leading a bunch of littles around. If by 28 days from the latest possible onset of incubation, she’s still sitting, I would gather the eggs and discard them. Some broody hens will abandon a failed nest and some will sit for WAY too long. You might just see what she does and which category she falls into. That info could help you in the future when this is a planned situation with this hen.

 

[tess36]

50 million years of reproduction says that she’ll be ok. I would collect and throw away the 2 eggs that are off to the side and let her run her course. Since you don’t know when she started sitting vs laying, count 21 days from the first day you found her sitting or when your husband found her hissing. Then buffer it by a week (2-3 days for late hatching and 2-3 days for her to monitor her new clutch) and i bet you see her leading a bunch of littles around. If by 28 days from the latest possible onset of incubation, she’s still sitting, I would gather the eggs and discard them. Some broody hens will abandon a failed nest and some will sit for WAY too long. You might just see what she does and which category she falls into. That info could help you in the future when this is a planned situation with this hen.

Thank you! We just found her about three days ago, so I'll count from then, which is a lot longer than I would have otherwise, so I'm glad I asked?

 

[tess36]

I'm just commenting to tie up the thread. I believe hatch date was 5/17-18. We cracked open an egg on 5/22. The contents were decomposing, liquified remains. Based upon the discovery of a fully formed, very wet, dead chick on 5/17, my theory is that humidity got too high at some point shortly before that date and not enough moisture reabsorbed, leading to the death of all chicks in their eggs. Thank you all for your input and help, even if it didn't end up with a happy ending.