First timers have broody hen. Please anwer these questions!

[Granolamom]

Sarah, our 9-month old BO hen, tried to go broody a month ago, but gave up after 12 hrs on the nest. Yesterday, she gave it another shot, and now has been on the nest for over 24hrs.
Looks like she's going for it this time...

She has not eaten or had any water since yesterday, and we're worried about it. So, here are the questions:
1. How long will a broody hen go without food/water?
2. Should we wait another day or so, to really let the "broodiness" set in, before we move her into the rabbit hutch we've made her a nest in?
3. Silly question, but hubby wants me to ask: can we use the eggs we collected yesterday, and put in the fridge, or have the cold temp's killed any life in the eggs?
Thanks for helping us out!

 

[imriu1969]

I am new at broodys also, but I have read alot of other's posts on this so I will try to answer your questions.

1-A broody will spend most of the day on the nest. She will get up for a very small time to eat,drink and poo. Sometimes not every day,though.

2-You can wait another day, but mark her eggs, because when she gets off the nest to eat/poo other hens will lay in her nest. I would personally move her ASAP (at night).

3-I read that someone has successfully hatched some eggs from the fridge, but I am not sure how long they had been in their. I am not sure if these will hatch or not.

Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[peepsnbunnies]

I agree with the above answers. I used to take one of my broody hens off the nest to make sure she ate and drank because I never saw her get up. But, now I know she does it herself, she is quick about it - only a couple of minutes, then back on the nest. I don't worry about anymore. I also have hens that will stay off for a half hour or so.

I did hatch some eggs that were in the fridge for 5 hours once, they did fine.

Good Luck with your hen.

Lisa

 

[Tanichca]

I just put some food and water in small dishes, and placed them near her.

 

[melissastraka]

Me too. I used rubbermaid and put it in the corner of her "spot" so the others wouldnt knock it over and she is happy. I gave her some cherrios out of my hand today...she was not happy!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

A broody hen will know when she needs to eat or drink. They usually get up once a day to eat, drink, poop, and scratch around a bit. Sometimes they do it every few days.

I have heard you can use refrigerated eggs to hatch. I'd say give it a shot.

Good luck with your hen

 

[Momtofive]

Being broody is great if you want to hatch chicks, but we don't have a roo and I really don't want any more chickens. Our 5 girls are plenty. So what do I do about my poor hen who has been hanging out in the nest box for a couple of weeks now. I shoo her out a couple of times a day so she will eat and I take the other girls eggs out from under her, but how long will this go on and is there anything we can do to shorten the process? Of course she is not laying while she thinks she hatching...