Hen Rivals and Hatching Eggs and Keeping the Brood Safe

[WhiskeyTheRedd]

Hi everyone! So this is my first time ever letting a hen do her mom thing. I have another hen the same age as her but much smaller. My broody’s name is Pearl, and the other one is Crooked Toe (CT). These two have been rivals since i got them!

Pearl has been getting up off her nest after CT comes and fights her off. CT will then lay an egg into Pearl’s nest and leave, letting Pearl sit on all the babies together.

Well, this morning while I was checking the eggs and doing my rounds, I heard a crunch. I ran into the coop and found that Ms. Crooked Toe had intentionally broken open one of the eggs and there was a formed baby inside, probably about day 13. It was awful, and honestly, it made me want to cull her right there. I decided not to because I still want her eggs she lays extra large green ones, but the debate continues if she should be Dinner. NOTE that she has also been responsible for four total eggs not making it by stepping on the other 3, and now breaking this one

I took Pearl and set up a dog kennel in the run, covered it with a thick tarp, and moved her nest inside. She was fine with it and went right back to her eggs after a few minutes of confusion.


However, the kennel isn’t very big, so I’m trying to figure out the best way to care for her and make sure she can stay comfortable through hatch day. I just want to make sure at least five of these eggs hatch successfully, but I’ve realized they’re all at different stages, some around day 3, others closer to day 15.

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Questions:

• How often should I let Pearl out of the kennel to stretch and dustbathe; would about three times a day be okay?
• Should I keep the kennel shut for about 10 minutes, then put her back on the nest? How long with the babies be okay? It is still pretty warm here during the daytime. (Phoenix AZ Area)
• Will Pearl stay on the nest if I remove the chicks as they hatch?
• Should I take the later-stage or earlier-stage eggs inside and finish them in an incubator?
• What’s the best way to handle a hatch with eggs at such different gestation stages?
• Any tips to help ensure that at least five chicks hatch successfully?
• Included photo of the space, Is this Enough to keep her in?
• I kept it in the run to avoid reintegration issues. I cannot freerange.
• NOTE: the cage does have a small gap at the bottom its not big enough for anyone to get in it or out of it. (only babies) and its inside of the run with 4 ft of hardware cloth around the entire base.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well this is a bit of a wreck, and the chance of getting 5 eggs might be a real stretch. I think that you might look around, and see if you can get some live chicks.

The theory of a broody hen, is that she lays an egg, goes about her business, lays another, repeat - until the nest looks right to her, and she will settle in and go the 21 days - get chicks all hatching at the same time.

The problem with a staggered hatch and keep adding eggs to the nest, is that they have very poor hatch rates. The reason is that a hen moves eggs around, and if there are too many eggs, well the one on the outsides die, then she moves them around again, and more die. This is why people mark eggs with a sharpie, and can keep those strays out of there. Or if they are all still alive, the live chicks are rambunctious and leave the nest, and she follows them to take care of them. Leaving the unhatched behind her.

But not all of the eggs will hatch. Hence the old saying, "Don't count your chickens until they hatch." Years ago we kept a tally, across all sorts of people, who set eggs, and hatched eggs... and it wound up to be a pretty solid 50% average. Now of course you can get either a 0% or 100%. But if I get more than 50% I call that good.

How many eggs do you have under her?

As for the care of the hen. I would open the gate, remove the food and water, and let her do her thing. She will get off the nest once every day to every third day. She will puff up like a beach ball, stomp around, eat, poop, drink and dustbath. Then she will go back to the nest. I tend to check the eggs once every 3 days unless I just sneak a peak when I am down there and she is off. Do not bother her several times a day.

Because you moved her, you need to keep a pretty close eye on her, as the nest she goes back to, could very well be the nest she originally chose. If that happens, just put her back where you want, lock her in there for half an hour to make sure she settles, and then unlock it.

I would not worry about CT, she wants the nest box. She will most likely leave the other place alone.

As for the staggered hatch, it will depend a lot on your hen, and how staggered they are. If you are talking 2-3 days, maybe she will stay that long. The chicks that hatch early - will call for her attention, and she will leave the dirty nest, and get on with life in my experience. Some people say 2-3 days, in my own experience, I have never had one stay on the nest with live chicks for more than 24 hours, and most leave around 12 hours.

Personally, I would wait, until she leaves the nest, and then put any left over eggs in the incubator. One of the problems I see with broody hens is that people with the best of intentions bother them too much. And sometimes she will quit the whole bunch because of it. So don't be reaching under her to get unhatched eggs.

People worry about eggs getting cold. But truthfully you really don't have to worry about that. Once the heart starts beating, the chicks themselves actually produce quite a bit of heat. Once I went out there, on a cold dreary day to find the broody hen on the WRONG nest. The nest right next to it. I put my hands on the eggs, and they were cool to the touch. I was sick, but people on here told me, just put her back, and they will hatch and they did.


So my long winded advise is: unlock the cage, remove the water and food, she needs to leave the nest to get some exercise and poop. She won't starve to death, but they do not eat a lot in the broody trance.
Keep a close eye on her, but bother her as little as possible. Put unhatched eggs in an incubator if you have one, but do not expect them all or any to hatch. And if it is several days behind the first group, she probably won't take them, but some do.

If nothing hatches, you can slip live chicks under her. Some people have this fail, but I never have. Or if you can't get chicks, then you need to break her, so that she does not wear herself out needlessly.

Good luck,

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

ps, I don't think crooked toe did it on purpose, eggs do get broke, especially if hens are fighting over the nest.