Help! Broody Hen!

[Muser]

If I get some fertilized eggs today and put under her, will she stay on them until they hatch? She's been broody about 2 weeks.

The magic question! That's entirely up to your broody. However brooding is a taxing process on the hens body so asking her to sit another 3 weeks could be bad for her health. I tried to break mine for a solid week and she wasn't having it. Got her hatching eggs and she hatched 7 chicks 3 weeks later. Don't forget that with hatching eggs you might get roosters so have a plan for any boys you might not want to keep. I have a broody jail setup for next time someone decides they want to brood

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Possibly, if she stays, as mentioned, depends on broody. You can make sure she gets off nest and eats/drinks/takes care of business. Our first broody sat for a week and half before we got eggs and her second time only three days. Current broody- different girl- has sat for over a week before I got eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If I get some fertilized eggs today and put under her, will she stay on them until they hatch? She's been broody about 2 weeks.

With living animals you don't get guarantees but your odds are really good she will stay broody that long.

 

[ChickenTenderz]

I was able to get her 4 eggs to sit on, the lady I got them from said they will either be RIR or Sexlinks. Fingers crossed she keeps with it and is a good mother hen. If I can let her raise some babies instead of having a brooder in the house, that would be amazing!

 

[Muser]

I was able to get her 4 eggs to sit on, the lady I got them from said they will either be RIR or Sexlinks. Fingers crossed she keeps with it and is a good mother hen. If I can let her raise some babies instead of having a brooder in the house, that would be amazing!

Excellent! Good luck with your eggies! Let us know how you get on! I've got a broody hen raising 7 chicks she hatched out 3 weeks ago right now <3

Did your hen purr when you gave her the eggs? Mine made such a beautiful cooing noise when I gave her each egg Was really adorable <3

 

[Muser]

This is her right now (I'm in the UK so it's night-time):

Hopefully this will be your hen soon too! <3

 

[ChickenTenderz]

Excellent! Good luck with your eggies! Let us know how you get on! I've got a broody hen raising 7 chicks she hatched out 3 weeks ago right now <3

Did your hen purr when you gave her the eggs? Mine made such a beautiful cooing noise when I gave her each egg Was really adorable <3

She always made such a sad sound when we took the eggs she had stolen away, she did that again when we swapped the stolen eggs for the ones we got for her. She looked at me like she was confused that I gave her eggs back and kind of settled in on them.

 

[ChickenTenderz]

I noticed our broody, Bernadette, was off the eggs Sunday morning and had an extra one in there (unmarked). I took the extra one and noticed she had returned back to her eggs shortly after I left. I made sure to take her some blueberries and later in the day some scrambled egg yolks just to make sure she is getting enough nutrients since she sits all day and the other girls gobble down any treats I bring them. Is there anything else I can do to encourage a successful hatch?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I noticed our broody, Bernadette, was off the eggs Sunday morning

Before they go broody a hen stores up extra fat. That extra fat is what they mostly live on so they can stay on the nest and take care of the eggs instead of having to be out looking for food and water. Still, broodies should leave the nests occasionally. They typically eat and drink and take a huge poop when they do. This way they don't take a poop in the nest and mess up the eggs. And their fat reserve lasts longer.

I've had a broody hen leave the nest twice every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon for about an hour each time. I had one that came off every morning for about 15 minutes, then went back to her nest. I've had several that I never or hardly ever saw off of the nest but I knew she was coming off because she was not pooping in her nest. Each broody is different and follows her own pattern but all of these had good hatches.

and had an extra one in there (unmarked).

If they have access other hens may lay an egg in the broody's nest. I mark the eggs I want her to hatch and check under her once a day after the others have laid and remove any eggs that do not belong. As long as you remove them daily they are good to eat even if you have a rooster. They are not going to develop that much. Since you don't have a rooster you probably don't have to remove them daily but I would just to maintain a good habit.

I made sure to take her some blueberries and later in the day some scrambled egg yolks just to make sure she is getting enough nutrients since she sits all day and the other girls gobble down any treats I bring them.

Since she is mostly living off of stored fat you do not need to give her any special treats. It probably doesn't hurt anything as long as you don't make a mess in the nest that might attract mice, rats, or other vermin. I don't do that as I like to interfere as little as possible.

Is there anything else I can do to encourage a successful hatch?

There are two basic models we use. One is to let her hatch with the flock. Mark the eggs as you have done so you know which ones belong. Remove any others daily. Other than that I leave them alone. She knows more about hatching the eggs by instinct than I will ever know. The more I interfere the more likely I am to mess something up.

The other model is to isolate her from the flock. Put her in a pen with a nest, food, water, and not much else. She should know by instinct to not poop in her nest but you may be cleaning out water and food regularly. Make sure she cannot go back to her original nest and that other hens cannot join her on the nest.

There are benefits and risks with both methods but many of us have great success with them. Good luck!

 

[ChickenTenderz]

Before they go broody a hen stores up extra fat. That extra fat is what they mostly live on so they can stay on the nest and take care of the eggs instead of having to be out looking for food and water. Still, broodies should leave the nests occasionally. They typically eat and drink and take a huge poop when they do. This way they don't take a poop in the nest and mess up the eggs. And their fat reserve lasts longer.

I've had a broody hen leave the nest twice every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon for about an hour each time. I had one that came off every morning for about 15 minutes, then went back to her nest. I've had several that I never or hardly ever saw off of the nest but I knew she was coming off because she was not pooping in her nest. Each broody is different and follows her own pattern but all of these had good hatches.


If they have access other hens may lay an egg in the broody's nest. I mark the eggs I want her to hatch and check under her once a day after the others have laid and remove any eggs that do not belong. As long as you remove them daily they are good to eat even if you have a rooster. They are not going to develop that much. Since you don't have a rooster you probably don't have to remove them daily but I would just to maintain a good habit.


Since she is mostly living off of stored fat you do not need to give her any special treats. It probably doesn't hurt anything as long as you don't make a mess in the nest that might attract mice, rats, or other vermin. I don't do that as I like to interfere as little as possible.


There are two basic models we use. One is to let her hatch with the flock. Mark the eggs as you have done so you know which ones belong. Remove any others daily. Other than that I leave them alone. She knows more about hatching the eggs by instinct than I will ever know. The more I interfere the more likely I am to mess something up.

The other model is to isolate her from the flock. Put her in a pen with a nest, food, water, and not much else. She should know by instinct to not poop in her nest but you may be cleaning out water and food regularly. Make sure she cannot go back to her original nest and that other hens cannot join her on the nest.

There are benefits and risks with both methods but many of us have great success with them. Good luck!

I just let her eat out of my hand like the others do without her having to get off the eggs.
Looks like it will be the first method for us. I don't want to disturb her by moving her anywhere else.