Have Just Put Eggs In Tonight 9th August 2011, Anyone Want To Join?

[Sphinx]

Yes!!!!! That's supposed to be the sound of them breathing, or maybe it's tapping on the shell and getting ready to pip!

OH is what?

 

[Bantam Username]

Other Half.

 

[patman75]

Well still have 5 eggs, no pips.

 

[Bantam Username]

No pip here yet either.

 

[patman75]

Checked on hur this morning and found another broken rotten egg. My first broody expierence appears to be a bust. I'm guessing the broken eggs ruined the rest of the eggs.

I'll give it another day, then I will break her. I was going to give the chicks when they got older to my neighbor whose flock is all but wiped out by a fox. But he has not done anything to protect his flock and the fox is now picking off his replacements. I'm maxed out on coop space for the winter and my confidence in my broody to raise chicks is a little low right now. Now the fun of breaking her broodyness.

Oh well live and learn.

PrincessChicken, your chicks look great!

Bantam, did you get a pip from your egg?

 

[Bantam Username]

Sorry to hear that patman75.

Still nothing my end, if its not hatched by tomorrow I'm gonna break lockdown and candle the bugger!

 

[Sphinx]

I'm sorry your experience was a bust, Patman. I know I'm going to sound all judgy, but I have to admit I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to hatch chicks for my neighbor if they weren't doing anything to prevent further fox attacks. I understand stuff happens, and it's sad, but to not do anything to prevent the same thing from happening in the future would bother me a little.

I need to break my broody too- I'd promised these chicks to my nieces, and they realllllly wanted them right away. I was also afraid of one of the other chickens killing the chicks, so my broody doesn't get to raise them.

I have two eggs that haven't hatched, and I haven't done anything with them. I haven't bothered candling them because the one egg I was never able to see inside anyway, and I was pretty sure the other one never developed.

So, what are you going to do to break your broody? I was thinking about putting something in "her" box so that she can't go in there.


I'm hoping your lone egg survives, Bantam.

 

[deborah]

We were going to pull our broody hen out of the brood box today and try to break her. We candled the 2 eggs first. One was just liquid rolling around; non fertile as I was suspecting. But in the other, about 3/4 is solid mass and the other quarter is an air pocket. We put it back under her. Today is Day 25. Did this chick die before hatching? Or is there still a chance it will hatch? How long should we wait?

Sitting on eggs is hard on a hen. We try to take her out daily, but she has still lost a lot of weight. I want to give the egg every chance, but I have to think of the hen too. She is very devoted and sits there like she's in a trance. I don't know if she will ever come out unless the egg hatches or we force her out. Any suggestions?

 

[Sphinx]

Deborah, this is my first experience with a broody, so I am probably the last person you should ask.

My hen went broody. After 4-5 days, I gave her a few eggs to sit on. I wasn't sure they'd be fertile, as the rooster is quite young, and had only been with the girls a week or so. Anyway, I let her sit on the eggs for 27 days, and none even developed (as a side note, a couple of them *seemed* to be solid when I candled them at the end, but when I broke them open, it was all liquid).

Hen stayed broody.

So, I gave her these 7 eggs, and she sat on them. A couple of my other chickens are very untrustworthy, and I was afraid they'd kill the chicks. I'd separated her part of the coop off with chicken wire, but I didn't do a very good job, and the chickens could still get over anyway. I didn't have a separate place to put the broody hen, and I was afraid if I moved her into the house, it would break her.

When the eggs started to pip, I moved them in to the incubator.

She's still out there on the nest, with an egg that I was pretty sure is no good, and we're at day 23. So, she's basically been on this nest for two months. She gets off to eat and drink, but she's lost quite a bit of weight, poor thing. The other chickens don't seem to recognize her either.

I'm going to try to get her off the nest today.

 

[patman75]

Quote:
Dont' worry PrincessChicken, I right there with you on giving chicks to the neighbor now. When he first lost a bunch of his chickens my hen when broody at the same time. I figured he would of taken out the fox or secured his chickens a little by now. As time went on and I lost more and more eggs I figured I would only get 1 or 2 chicks and I would end up keeping them. On Saturday he called me because the fox was back and wanted me to go to his house and try to shoot it or any half dead chickens because he was not home. I was not home either. That was the tipping point. It all apears not to matter because I doubt any chicks are hatchings.

As for breaking my broody, from what I read on the BYC it sounds like I need to put her in a dog cage or something similar with no bedding or nest box. Just food and water, kinda like broody jail. After a few days this should break her. I have also read that if you put ice cubes on her chest this will cool her down and break the broody. Something about body temp and broody hormones.