Hen hatching eggs on her own

[Bryce Thomas]

One of my black silkies Shadow has gone broody again, and this time I want to let her have at it with hatching some eggs. I am going to be giving her 5 or 6 fertile eggs tomorrow, she is very broody, plucked out all her breast feathers and growls at me, she just went broody today and defends her nest fiercely. I know she wants to hatch some, is there anything I should know prior to letting her have her chicks? Anything for me to know? Thanks!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Sounds like she's definitely ready. (Most Silkie hens were practically hatched broody ready).

Some tips:

1. Location, Location, Location. Is the nest she's chosen for herself a safe nest for her to brood? Will others disturb her or the eggs? Will they lay in her nest? Will they push her off or force her to relocate? Can she easily get to food and water and BACK again without confusing the nest? If any of the answers lead to troubles, you need to intervene now, before setting eggs, to settle her somewhere else. Some hens bond to the EXACT location and refuse to budge from that spot. Others (many Silkies) will plop down wherever to brood. So if you think you may need to move her for safe hatching, move her now. Let her resettle, THEN add the fertile eggs. Consider how safe the location is for the hatched chicks as well (and how accessible food/water will be). However it is very easy to relocate mother and chicks once they have hatched and fully fluffed.

2. Mark the Eggs. I always put the date, in felt tip pen, of the day I set them (as I tend to forget). If there are other hens that want to lay eggs in her nest, this will prevent mixing them up. It's usually better if she has privacy as a first-timer, though. (Which means relocating her or subdividing the coop with some sort of devised divider). You are doing the right thing by setting ALL the eggs at the same time, as you don't want a staggered hatch...some hatching a few days before others are developed. It throws most hens off...they either stay with the eggs and neglect the newly hatched chicks, or they get up with the chicks and abandon the developing eggs.

3. Check your bedding materials. Some bedding scatters allowing the eggs to drop to the coop surface. This can cause cracked eggs or eggs that roll away. I find good, deep, fluffy pine shavings or timothy hay (the kind used in hamster cage) a good choice.

4. Candle the eggs at day 3 to 5 (possibly again at day 14). If they are all a bust, you can reset by day 5 and start the process again with plenty of time for her to set. Most broody hens will brood up to 5 weeks. I avoid stretching them that far as they lose a lot of weight during brooding (which is normal). However, resist the urge to keep checking the eggs during the process. You can really frustrate a hen that way. Lock down for the hen is day 18 to 21. Really avoid looking if at all possible. If by day 23 you have nothing, you can look at that time.

5. Make sure she has easy access to generous food and water. Chick start is a good feed as she won't need the calcium while brooding, but could use the extra protein and vitamins in the chick start. I also will put chick boost in the water to help her keep up her energy.

6. Watch out for mites/lice during the brooding. She won't be dust bathing as normal, so if it is mite/lice season, they could build up. Dusting with poultry dust won't hurt the eggs, however it's preferred to disturb her as little as possible.

That's most tips I can think of at this stage. Good luck with your (and her) efforts.

LofMc

 

[Bryce Thomas]

Thx for the info! One other thing, my coop has 2 nesting boxes, I can remove a slider that turns the 2 nest boxes into 1 long nest box, but since broodies are aggressive I don't want the other hens laying where they should not be then once the broody sees the eggs then she decided to sit on some other eggs. Any ideas? Thx!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hmmm. I'm trying to picture your set up.

I have an oversized nesting box that I can subdivided into 2 separate boxes with separate entrances. That would be ideal. You don't want one community box as broody aggression towards the other hens tends to trample eggs, plus the egg swapping, rolling, clutch swapping. It generally ends up a mess for the developing eggs.

Your broody should be in her designated box that is hopefully in a private corner somewhere that the other hens either can't get to or generally leave alone.

I have a designated broody hutch for certain of my broodies who need privacy. When I first started broody hatching, it was the only way I had successful hatches.

Now, I've broody raised so many years that all my chickens have been broody hatched. Somehow the flock understands brooding and leaves the brooding hens alone such that I can generally hatch in a corner box of the main coop....with certain hens.

But to avoid foot trampling and egg swapping, the best bet is to have a designated nest for the broody hen that she can go and come from while the others are somehow dissuaded or prevented.

LofMc

 

[3KillerBs]

Here's the article for you: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rst-turkey-strut-to-weaning-the-chicks.76878/