GIVING BROODY HEN FERTILIZED EGGS

[capebird]

I have one hen who , off and on, goes broody. We don't have a rooster. I've tried keeping her off the nest
when she is broody...... but it's like she's goes into this trance and gets right back into the nest.
A friend suggested getting some fertilized eggs and placing them under her and let her fulfill her broody
desires. Sounded like a good idea, so I got 4 fertilized eggs, put an "X" on each one and placed them
under miss broody-pants. Not having any experience with this sort of thing.... my question is, will she leave the
nest to get food and water? Is there anything else I should do to make this experiment successful? Thanks for your help.

 

[Judy]

She should get up once a day to take care of business. She may stay off the nest for 15 or 20 minutes, go outside and scratch, dust bathe, etc. She won't lay eggs while broody but she may steal other chickens' eggs, or others may lay in her nest, so you should check what's under her daily. Many people separate them at least while they are setting so the eggs don't get jostled so much, or moved.

Here's a very long thread about broodies; you may want to browse it a bit.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ody-hen-hatch-a-long-and-informational-thread

 

[LovinChicknFarmn]

At some point you'll probably want to separate her from the other hens before they hatch so the others won't bother the babies. I'm on my second time doing exactly what you're doing: we have hens, no roosters, and get fertilized eggs to put under her. I've written a bunch of blog posts about my experience if you're interested. http://lovinchicknfarmin.blogspot.com/2011/07/broody-mamas.html

Good luck! Don't worry too much. She knows exactly what to do. You just have to sit back and wait until you have chicks!

 

[capebird]

Thanks both for the replies and I will look over the links you both attached.
She's sitting on the eggs...so we'll see what happens

 

[emw0012]

I just replied to your link about your broody hen and putting the fertilized eggs in with her. Please check it out and respond to my questions. I realize it was posted in 2011 so not sure if the blog is still current. Thanks!!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Yes she will leave the nest about once every 3 - 4 days to eat, drink, dust, and take a potty beak . The problem is there is a tide in the both the affairs of men and brood hens that when taken at its flood leads to little chicks.

Once your hen's broodiness grows tiresome to her neither regions she will voluntary abandon her clutch. This may happen in the middle of YOUR 21 day hatching schedule, say day 10 or 11 resulting in the death of all the chicks/eggs. Never allow a hen to just set and set and set to no effect. I believe this is the same thing as solitary confinement torture and I can not imagine that it is anything but bad for a hen's health. So if you decide to allow her to set, get with the program and give her fertile eggs early on. The life you save may be your hen's!