Getting ready to set and hatch with a broody, 1st timer with questions!

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

If you move her and give her the hatching eggs, she might stay put, but she may not settle and your hatching eggs could spoil so it is better to get her moved to the brooder location for a couple of days before you give her the hatching eggs, just to make sure it all goes smoothly with the important eggs.
If you already have a nest made in the brooder, put some ordinary eggs in it and lift your broody onto them at night, when it is dark as she will be more likely to settle in the dark. If she stays on that nest for the next day or two, you can then swap the eggs out for the hatching eggs. The thing with broody hens is that they cannot tell one egg from another or count for that matter to know how many there are. But what they do know is where their nest is, so moving their nest is a much bigger deal than swapping eggs. In a more wild environment, they would make a nest away from other chickens and lay an egg into it each day until they have a clutch and then start to incubate them. Each day they come off the nest to eat, drink, poop and dust bath for 20 mins or so and then return to the nest.... so it is the nest site that is imprinted on them and some hens panic when they are moved from the nest site they have chosen and are desperate to get back to it and will not settle.... others are just happy to have a nest of eggs under them but if they are not confined they may return to the wrong nest after their daily broody break, especially if another hen has climbed onto their nest to lay in it whilst they were taking a break. They will sometimes climb into an adjoining nest box and then go into their broody trance and not get back onto the eggs when the other hen vacates the nest.
You have to understand how a broody hen works in order to give your hatching eggs the best chance. So many people who brood in communal nests find that the hen has abandoned the eggs or eggs have been broken or kicked out or chicks have been squashed and blame the broody when it is their poor set up and lack of understanding of broody hens that caused the problem.

If I were you, I would make a nest in the brooder, put 3-4 normal eggs in there and lift your most committed broody onto it at night and fasten her in. Check the next day to make sure she is still settled and swap out the normal eggs for the hatching eggs the following night or 2 nights later (depending on when you receive the eggs), if she is happy with the new set up. Bear in mind that eggs need humidity to hatch so completely dry bedding is not ideal. ... chickens are naturally ground nesting and a sod of earth turf, cut and turned upside down in the nesting box (ie dirt up) was the traditional nesting material given to a broody hen.

Thank you so much for the detail! I needed that tonight. I will get out my hatching eggs tomorrow and be ready to move 1 broody to the new location tomorrow night. I will let the Silkie on floor stay there, since that is always HER spot and I don't think a move would do well for her.

i did have another question: Assuming I keep the brooder box door open during the incubation period, do I want to keep the brooder box open after the chicks hatch? If they fall out, they can't get back in.. mama can... all my silks know how to get in and out of that box. The box is made with 2 hinged doors that drop down to open, but can also be closed with a latch at the top.

Again, thank you so much for the help!

 

[Birdinhand]

I like to see a broody hen sitting solidly for 3-5 nights, even longer is fine. Once I see that I know it's time to set up the brooder/nesting area. I have a separate pen area that has it's own nesting box ready to go. at night I take some fake eggs/decoys and place them in there and move her on top. then, as has been mentioned, if she is still solid the next night or so, I swap out the decoys with the real mccoy. a solidly broody hen doesn't seem to care much about being moved, especially if the new spot is more private and out of reach of the other hens. if left with the others, wacky things happen, like when she gets up to take her once daily poop and eat and drink, if another hen hops on her eggs she will then switch nests and sometimes not come back to the original nest for a bit. then, when she does, the new nest has new eggs in it. sometimes the other hens will climb right in on top of the broody and lay eggs right on top of her. all that shenanigans can lead to broken eggs and confusion about which eggs are which. I don't like messing around with hatching eggs that I have gone out of my way to get so I don't let that happen, off to a separate pen she goes.

 

[rebrascora]

If you keep the brooder box door open, she may mistakenly go back to one of the communal nest boxes..... it takes several days for her to re-home to the new nest location..... a bit like when you change jobs and a few days later you catch yourself heading back to the old place because you have switched to "autopilot". Maybe that has never happened to you, but I'm sure you get what I mean.

Better to keep the brooder closed up so that she only has access to that one nest and also some of the other hens might see her nest of eggs whilst she is on a broody break and decide that is the place to lay instead of their usual box. A nest of eggs can be quite alluring.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

...Better to keep the brooder closed up so that she only has access to that one nest and also some of the other hens might see her nest of eggs whilst she is on a broody break and decide that is the place to lay instead of their usual box. A nest of eggs can be quite alluring.

Around here, even one egg is alluring!
I have caught girls in the act of moving an egg that has just been laid into their box so they can be the ones to sit on it while getting ready to lay themselves

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

This is what I did today.

I put Silkie #1 (Snowball) in the brooder tonight once it got dark. I placed her in the nest on top of fake eggs, it has water and food on the opposite side of nest. She fussed quite a bit and after about an hour, I peeked in on her. She was sleeping but not in the nest, but over by the food and water. I hope she'll figure it out in the morning. All day today she had been in a nest box sitting happily on her (mostly) fake eggs. However, the other hens would cause a fuss (usually by sitting in her nest) and she would end up sitting in a new box with new eggs. Very much seeing the need for her to be in a place where she is separate. I just hopes she comes around to my thinking sooner rather than later.

I continued to let Silkie#2 (Maple) stay in her nest box on the floor. But, I put a temporary wire "fence" around her so that all of my nosey other girls would leave her and her fake eggs be. We ended up putting a small portal in it though, so she could get out and get food and dust bathe. When she couldn't get out, she freaked out a bit (ok, a lot!) even though she had food and water close by.

I'm hoping both will continue to show their broody colors tomorrow and be on their way to hatching eggs in a few days. I did however stop by our local TS and picked up an incubator as an insurance policy. I didn't want to come this far and have a hiccup and end up loosing all eggs due to it. I can post pics tomorrow of their setup, I forgot to get pictures of the final setups before nightfall.

 

[rebrascora]

Can you put a cover over the nest in the brooder section. A simple cardboard box with one end cut out for her to get on and off the nest, but make the nest itself quite dark and secluded. Most broody hens prefer that, so it might help her settle on them. I am pleased that you decided to seek help in advance with this as it is not as simple as people assume and much better to get things settled in advance of the eggs arriving as have the stress of things not working after you giver her them. It was good thinking to pick up the incubator and from what I have read (I've only ever hatched with broody hens) it would be a good idea to fire it up straight away as they take some time to get the settings stabilised and a second thermometer is advisable to double check the incubator readings.
Hopefully after a few days the broodies should settle down to their new arrangements and all go well after that.
Keep us posted on how things progress.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

@rebrascora .. So this morning I went out and she, Snowball, was pacing back and forth like crazy still. I let her out and immediately she went up to her nest box that she had picked. So, this is what I did. It has a Silkie sized hole in it so she only can get in and out.


Will the secluded box (with a lid) help encourage their broodiness? Maple, our other Silkie acts broody except her breaks right now are LONG!

Compared to Snowball, she’s definately NOT as ready!

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

How long will my hatching eggs be viable before I need to either give them to a broody or put them in the incubator? They were laid Wednesday and Thursday (yesterday).

 

[rebrascora]

That looks like a great compromise with the wire and curtains around her old nest.
If your other broody Maple is taking long breaks from the nest I would not trust her with hatching eggs as she is not in full broody mode. Does she have fake eggs in her nest? The pressure of a cluster of eggs against her breast is supposed to help tip the hormone balance towards broody. Providing more darkness by placing a box over her may help or may not. There is no real harm and trying it. Presumably she is staying in the nest overnight and not soiling it with poop?

The hatching eggs will be good for at least a week. In a natural situation, a
prebroody hen will lay an egg a day until she has what she considers to be an appropriate clutch... that is usually somewhere between 8 and 16. So the oldest egg in the nest when she starts to set them (incubate) can be a couple of weeks old. Those oldest eggs will usually still hatch, but ideally, with bought eggs that have been travelled etc, you don't want to leave them much longer than a week before you start the incubation, to give them the best chance of hatching.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

That looks like a great compromise with the wire and curtains around her old nest.
If your other broody Maple is taking long breaks from the nest I would not trust her with hatching eggs as she is not in full broody mode. Does she have fake eggs in her nest? The pressure of a cluster of eggs against her breast is supposed to help tip the hormone balance towards broody. Providing more darkness by placing a box over her may help or may not. There is no real harm and trying it. Presumably she is staying in the nest overnight and not soiling it with poop?

The hatching eggs will be good for at least a week. In a natural situation, a
prebroody hen will lay an egg a day until she has what she considers to be an appropriate clutch... that is usually somewhere between 8 and 16. So the oldest egg in the nest when she starts to set them (incubate) can be a couple of weeks old. Those oldest eggs will usually still hatch, but ideally, with bought eggs that have been travelled etc, you don't want to leave them much longer than a week before you start the incubation, to give them the best chance of hatching.

Every time I’m in the coop.. at least once an hour (during the day) right now.. Snowball is on the nest. And yes, sleeping there too. No poop I can see. At bedtime last night, Maple was on the roosts ‍... so unless she completely turns it around.. she’s not gonna be my go to for the eggs this time. She does have 2 fake standard sized eggs in her nest.

My only concern with Snowball is after she hatches the chicks. Would she be to far off the ground?

Do you know about putting the hatching eggs in the refrigerator? I’ve heard that can extend their viability.

Oh yeah, one more thing.. it looks like as of yesterday, I have a Black Australorp who’s broody too. She sitting on her fake eggs in the built in brooder!