Hen got on wrong nest

[mtnfam]

I have a Buff Orp that has been sitting on fertile eggs for 7 days. Today she got back on the wrong nest and left hers alone! My question is, if I put more eggs under her tomorrow and separate her from the other hens, so there is no mix up or confusion, will she hatch the new batch for the full 21 days? Or will she be "off schedule" because she already has been broody for a week? I really want to hatch some baby chicks.

 

[azelgin]

Quote:
Chickens can't count. She won't know if she has been on the nest for 5 days, or 50. What she may not like, is being moved to another nest. I would move her, confine her to the new location for three days and give her some golf balls to warm for the confinement period. If she stays at the new nest after you allow her freedom to get out, then give her some eggs to hatch.

 

[shelleyd2008]

What did you do with the other eggs? They should still be all right, unless they have been cold for a really long time.

But to answer your question, I have yet to have a hen leave a nest early without chicks, so I would think she would sit for the full 21 days. Just keep her confined to that one nest for a while, or even move her if possible, to an area that has no other nests. I had a millie hen do that (go on the wrong nest) because the other girls kept running her out of hers. I moved the eggs that she originally had into the new nest and she stayed put.

 

[mtnfam]

I am such a rookie! I brought them in the house. I thought I had read online somewhere that if a hen has left a nest for more than 20 minutes, the eggs were not able to make it. I shined a flashlight through them and then broke them open to see (there were only 4) and sure enough all four had a week old embryo in them! I feel bad, because I should have just slipped them under her again. I have never been a chicken mom before. Maybe she will give me another chance and let me move her and put more eggs under her tomorrow. I bet they were OK because it was in the 70's here all day and I am sure one of my other hens sat on them for a while because there was another egg added to the batch. (I had originally marked them with a pencil).

 

[SangaChicken]

I had a duck abandon a nest for well over 24 hours before I found it, I threw the eggs in the incubator, and hatched them all out. In the future, have a 'bator on standby for occasions just like this!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Totally agree with this, especially since they were that early in development, they tend to go dormant if they are cold for too long.

And 70 degrees?? Can I come live with you??

I haven't seen 70 degrees for a month at least, except at night! It was upper 90's today, and now it's about 65......

 

[mtnfam]

Good idea about the incubator. Thanks! I am feeling a bit guilty right now about the eggs....

As for the temp? I live in the mountains and our summers are so short! To tell you the truth, I really wouldn't mind some 90 degree weather. We get a few each year, but our winters are long and cold and the snow just hangs on forever! My chickies were so glad to get out of the coop and scratch around after their long winter as well!

Thank you for the replies. live and learn?

 

[dancingbear]

Hens often get off the eggs for an hour or more, and then still hatch them just fine. I've had hens repeatedly get back on the wrong nest, and eggs get chilled over and over, and still hatch. On time, even. I've had eggs get chilled, get egg goo all over from broken eggs in the nest, wash them, put them back, have that happen repeatedly to one clutch, and by the time hatch day arrived, there were only 6 left, out of 12. I thought for sure they were all dead, but 5 of the 6 hatched.

Relax. Don't worry so much. If the hen gets off longer than you think she should, just stick her back on the eggs and let it go. You may get a good hatch anyway.

Some hens, if they've been broody way too long, will leave the eggs before they hatch. I recently had 2 broodies that I was saving for some turkey eggs, but with various problems that arose, they didn't get the eggs until they'd already been broody nearly 3 weeks. One of them abandoned the eggs after 3 days on them. I put what I could in the 'bator (which was nearly full at the time) and the rest under the other hen. Turkeys take 4 weeks instead of 3. Only 4 turkey eggs turned out to be viable, so I put those 4 and 9 guinea eggs under the hen who was still brooding. The night before they were due to hatch, I heard peeping under her, and thought great, I'll have a nest full of babies tomorrow!

Normally, a hen will stay on the nest at least 24 hrs. after the eggs start to hatch. She didn't. The next morning, she was off the nest with the 1st 2 hatchlings, the rest of the eggs were cold. I put them in the incubator, but it was too late. No more hatched. So she's got 1 poult and 1 keet, and I lost the other 3 poults and 8 keets.

I'm sure it was because she'd already been brooding for 7 weeks by the time they started to hatch. Her hormones were telling her it was time to quit. So don't count on a hen staying broody as long as you want, it doesn't always work that way. They do have something of an internal calendar to tell them when to give up, otherwise, they'd stay on dead eggs until they starved to death. Hens get off the nest daily to eat, drink, and poop, but they don't eat nearly enough to keep going indefinitely. Brooding's hard on a hen, they lose weight and condition. They handle it fine for up to about 5 weeks, but I wouldn't push past that, if I could help it.