Shezadandy! Thank you for finding me. Ok, I am a bit nervous and am supposed to be leaving for work. Update on the remaining 7 eggs. The one that Enid (mama) pecked a hole in, is still intact and under her, but something smells a little and I think it might be that. An egg pipped, or do you say that the chick pipped? I saw it yesterday evening, could hear peeping & cheeping, so I put it back under mom, pip hole up and walked away for the night. I am trying to leave them to their own, because of what happened Friday night. This morning I had a very hard time getting mama to move off of the eggs, but she did for a few seconds and the pipped egg is just membrane now and I could still hear the chick, but not as loudly. I don't want to interfere and I have to go to work, but I am so worried about coming home to a dead chick, or whatever is left of it.
These are all her own eggs, and yes they were staggered. I had not marked them at first, so by the time I realized she had laid more I didn't know what was what; although in hindsight, I could have candled them and known... darn it. I had no idea that she'd only hatch out the first bunch and then need to leave them. There are 2 that look about a week out and then 2 more a week behind those. Does that mean that the 4 will just die off in the shell? This baby stuff is sad. I don't need more chickens, I just wanted to let Enid have some. She's not very personable, but a great layer and she's looking like a good mom.
Yeah- once they're broody and ready to sit on a clutch, they won't lay any more new eggs and the 21 day clock starts. A lot of people watch to see that she starts sleeping on the nest for at least 3 nights to make sure she's sleeping on her nest and not leaving the eggs to go roost at night. If she's ready to commit to the nest, she'll only step off 1-2 a day for short breaks to eat, drink and poop. Collect the eggs you want her to hatch- not sure how long they can stay at room temperature but the answer is definitely on here somewhere- they stay viable for a reasonable amount of time. Once she's committed to the nest and sleeping there, then label the fertile eggs you intend her to sit on in some manner (so you'll know which are which in case another hen jumps in the box and lays one), and give them to her all at once. She should take them right under her and act like it's the best Christmas gift ever. Then the clock starts. Now, some do put their eggs in the incubator- but all those eggs are started at the same time so they're within a day or so in terms of development-- and they wait even longer before doing the switch.
If you do incubate, one thing to be aware of is she's only been truly broody say for a week, and the chicks start hatching, she may well destroy them because she's not prepared in terms of hormones to raise them yet. That will come down to the hen. Some are good after only a couple weeks-- ours had her eggs after 3 nights of sleeping in the nest box, and had those eggs for the full 21 days so she was right on track when they hatched to accept them. Of the original 12 eggs, we got 5 chicks, and that was just fine with us.
Broodies brooding with the flock are more prone to losing eggs, it does happen- other hens step in her nest box and lay a fresh egg, and they might step on her or a fertile egg, cracking it- hens steal eggs from eachother and move them-- so it's up about how much separation to give her. I brooded with the flock and once I heard that first peep, I put up the hardware cloth protection pen around the nest box so the brand-new chicks wouldn't get taken by the other hens (who can/have eaten them while the broody is still on her nest trying to hatch the rest). If they wander out while she's still waiting on some to hatch, she's not defending them. Once she's up and ready to move the chicks around, she can defend them. My little pen had a top too- but for pictures I had top off.
Before I lifted the protection pen (short lived, only a couple days) I gave the other hens their favorite thing which is a flock block (can't see it but it's what they're gathered around below)- which took all the attention from the new little members of the flock and kept their beaks very busy. Giving the broody her own space to learn to walk with chicks is important- we locked the others out of the coop for an hour or two a day once she was done with sitting on the nest so she could get the hang of walking with chicks, from there she did allll the rest, and they grew up in the flock. Keeping them separate is another option- and certainly if the broody can't defend them properly, it's a very good idea to keep them from the other adults-- all depends on your flock.
Hopefully you come home to a couple dry, fluffy chicks- whatever isn't ready to hatch will be lost, because once she's up with chicks, the eggs are no longer incubated.
If nobody hatches successfully from the first few that were ready and she keeps sitting the nest, if they're only a week out, maybe she'll hatch the second group.
If she gets up and is done brooding with no chicks, clean out the nest and let her regain weight and condition etc. If she broods again, it's important to see that she's sleeping there and only moving off for a short time each day, and put eggs under all at the same time. If she's still laying eggs, she's building her clutch, but isn't broody.
