Hen with pips

[TSP]

A few weeks ago, I thought I was missing a hen. She had been conspicuously absent for over a week. I moved a bale of straw to clean the coop and found her sitting on a clutch of 13 eggs. My rooster is a nice looking guy, but doesn’t get the job done with all of the flock. Some he likes, some not so much. I didn’t know if the eggs would be fertile or not, but just in case, I moved the clutch (nest, hen and all) while she slept to my smaller coop. Today, 7 of 13 hatched. All of my birds have been hatched here in an incubator and I didn’t introduce the youngsters to the flock until they were fully feathered and kept them separated by wire fencing until they ignored one another. Should I just let the hen decide how to move them out into the main flock? I put my chick sized feeder and waterer in the coop with them as well as the adult sized feeder and waterer (suspended, chicks couldn’t reach) already. I’m usually of the mind to let Mother Nature take its course as they’ve been successfully doing this for millions of years, but I also don’t want my kids to go out and find the other hens eating the chicks!

 

[TSP]

They are Bielefelders by the way. I didn’t think they went broody. This is a first for our little homestead.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Can the flock see mama where she is?

 

[TSP]

No. The smaller coop is walled and she sitting on the nest inside it. I can open the door so she can come and go, or leave it closed. I was kind of inclined to keep the door shut until the other six hatched or at least until I know they are done hatching. I suspect there’s more to come as she was one of the hens the rooster mated with frequently. Some of the chicks were still wet from hatching when I checked today.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Is she a higher ranking hen or is she lower on the pecking order? Is she easy to catch if you need to?

 

[TSP]

Higher but not the alpha hen.
as far as catching… Not so much. They aren’t pets and only one of the hens will suffer the indignity of being picked up and held without making an ungodly fuss. When the hens start squawking, the rooster has an anxiety attack and literally jumps up and down at my feet. He’s almost three and has never done anything aggressive towards me, but when I pick up one of his ladies, I often think he’s considering it. I can catch her in the little coop easily enough, but if out in the yard, would be a challenge.

 

[TSP]

The main flock is 13 hens and a rooster and they have a fenced in “yard“ 50’ x 50’, but they almost always have an open gate to bug hunt all over the property. The coops are both inside the fenced in area.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I would wait about a week after the last hatching and then introduce them.

 

[TSP]

@JacinLarkwell
thanks!
my wife is of about the same opinion. Once they’re all hatched and eating\drinking I’m going to open the door and see how it goes.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I separate my broody hens and chicks due to issues in the past, so will give no advice on that.

Want to say this, since it sounds like u've never candled her eggs. I never candled eggs under my broodies either, until a rotten egg exploded under a broody shortly before chicks were due to hatch. It was beyond horrible. Had to pull her off the eggs, take her inside to bathe her, and the rotten egg also spewed on the remaining eggs. It was so disgusting i tossed all the eggs and bought her feedstore chicks. Have never made that mistake again.

If u want to candle either now or in the future to check if eggs are viable under a broody hen, you can do so at night by flashlight in otherwise pitch-black darkness. The hen wont be able to see well, so a quick check should cause no alarm.

If u decide to candle the remaining eggs under your current broody, pay close attention to the egg's position in the nestbox before you remove it. If a chick is viable, it is already in hatching position. You dont want to put viable eggs back under the broody in a different position, since the chick will then have to rotate into hatching position again. A quick removal, check with flashlight, then replacing viable "egg-babies" can be done in 10-20 seconds per egg.

Not saying its necessary to candle the eggs this specific time, just saying its overall equally important to candle eggs under a broody, same as in an incubator. By tonight you may see more pips, so of course no need to check those eggs. Congratulations on your brand new family!