how long can a broody hen be off her eggs?

[wutangfarm]

Couple questions to add to this thread......
1) just came back from vacation and notice one of our hens went broody (her first time) candled the egg. This evening and we definitely have at least 10 viable. She is sitting on 18. How many can she handle? Is this too many? Also, the eggs are all at different stages. Is there anything I should do or just let nature take its course? I have no idea what day we are on

 

[Cluckywucky]

Hello there, I have a broody silkie sitting on 7 eggs. She is being good and only occasionally we have to lift her to make her get something to eat and drink. She seems to be doing a good job. But my question is once they are hatched do you leave mum and chicks in the same coop with the rest, we have two lots of chickens in two different coops but they are all together free roaming my large garden. But we are worried about the other cockerel, and also any big birds that come and go in the garden. We live in the Highlands of Scotland and have sparrow hawks, owls, rooks etc around the area? Should we pen her in with a lid over the run or are the whole flock really good at looking after little chicks.?

 

[centrarchid]

Couple questions to add to this thread......
1) just came back from vacation and notice one of our hens went broody (her first time) candled the egg. This evening and we definitely have at least 10 viable. She is sitting on 18. How many can she handle? Is this too many? Also, the eggs are all at different stages. Is there anything I should do or just let nature take its course? I have no idea what day we are on

Clutch larger than optimal. I prefer 8 to 12 with standard sized birds.

If practical, then remove non-viable eggs in part to reduce risk of rotten eggs breaking and killing viable eggs.

Sometimes a hen can handle 20+ but nest design and temperature is very important in allowing that higher number. Generally, more eggs at start does not mean more hatch.


Staggered hatch of more than 36 hours can be problematic. Breed can override this issue. What hen breed?

 

[alibabba]

This is a great thread.

My little 10 m0 D'Uccle sat 2 days and nights in a row.

She is on the the flocks eggs laid over 2 day period. 4 bantams and think 4 SF. I just had to squeeze the last one in there so we had one of everyones

Yesterday she was off for a couple hours (freaking me out!) But I didn't see her again for the rest of day and night.

Today she is doing the same thing! This is nail biting!!!! I can't get anything done watching out the window to see what she's doing. And making sure no one else is on her nest. And these are just for fun backyard mixes!!!!


So according to the experiences here, I shouldn't worry to much if this is just how she does it....

Anyone else have a hen who does it like this?

 

[fenwickchic]

This is a great thread.

My little 10 m0 D'Uccle sat 2 days and nights in a row.

She is on the the flocks eggs laid over 2 day period. 4 bantams and think 4 SF. I just had to squeeze the last one in there so we had one of everyones

Yesterday she was off for a couple hours (freaking me out!) But I didn't see her again for the rest of day and night.

Today she is doing the same thing! This is nail biting!!!! I can't get anything done watching out the window to see what she's doing. And making sure no one else is on her nest. And these are just for fun backyard mixes!!!!


So according to the experiences here, I shouldn't worry to much if this is just how she does it....

Anyone else have a hen who does it like this?

Hi,
I am right there with you! I have a BO who has been sitting on 4 eggs for about a week now (she began while I was away so I'm depending on my husband's count). I could be off by a couple days. Not all the eggs are hers either. She seems to never get off the nest; however, we went out today for my daughter's birthday and were gone about 4 hours and came home to find her sitting on 4 eggs in the "other" nest box. She got confused. Since the weather was warm, I'm hoping the eggs are still o.k. They were not warm. I was so worried that I simply picked her up and plopped her back in the correct nest box. Thankfully, she was not upset and she stayed there (so far). Apparently, she does get up every day to get some food and water and then goes back to her nest. We just don't always see her do it. We have been getting eggs out of the "other" nest box as quickly as possible to avoid her confusion prior to this. I am now going to be a nervous wreck checking to see where she is all the time for the next 2 weeks!! And, I'll be praying all goes well for her and her potential chicks. I have no where else to move her as I am a backyard set-up too. She will have to raise the chicks together with everyone in the chicken tractor and chicken yard. At least I have heavy duty aviary netting over the yard area this year. I am putting my faith in her and in God. All should be well.

 

[alibabba]

Me too! Gathering eggs. figuring out where I might move her.. I have 2 pens, but I think she would just be to upset. I'll wait til they hatch. And put her back on the correct nest daily between 9 and 11.

This is fun? I can't stand it. No wonder people like incubators.
Another poster mentioned the "speed dust bath". She does it, it's very cool to see, I have to get a video of it. You can tell she is like a lady getting a quick shower ETA. This is Sunflower, Sunny...her own eggs are 50 cent piece sized.

 

[fenwickchic]

Today a chick hatched!! So yes, they can be off their eggs for a couple hours in the spring/early summer and still hatch. By my count, it has been 23 days? Does that happen?! There are 3 more eggs to go. I am away so my daughter has been monitoring. She sent me a text picture but I can't figure out how to get it from my phone to computer to post it. It isn't real good anyway. She moved mama, chick and eggs into a separate area. I pray this works out o.k. I can't wait to get there and see mama and chick!!

 

[alibabba]

Me too! Gathering eggs. figuring out where I might move her.. I have 2 pens, but I think she would just be to upset. I'll wait til they hatch. And put her back on the correct nest daily between 9 and 11.

This is fun? I can't stand it. No wonder people like incubators.



Another poster mentioned the "speed dust bath". She does it, it's very cool to see, I have to get a video of it. You can tell she is like a lady getting a quick shower

ETA. This is Sunflower, Sunny...her own eggs are 50 cent piece sized.

So...today was what I would have thought was day 23. I saw her sitting a lot 6/1 and then 6/2 I gave her the eggs and just one more on 6/3. Yesterday 1 pip, today 4 other pips in the am. My goodness, they hatched by 1:30, 3.5 hrs from pip to OUT!

She was off her nest for an hour or more every morning, once a day. She occasionally got on the wrong nest. (I did help her get to the right nest many times) The eggs were cool to touch. Even this morning with all those pips she took a 15-20 min break. She knew what she was doing! Not a single blood ring whole time. Any eggs I removed were infertile (yolkers, clears, by candling...no development at all, just like a store bought egg).


And today we have 5 chicks, one more egg to go...

 

[alibabba]

Today a chick hatched!! So yes, they can be off their eggs for a couple hours in the spring/early summer and still hatch. By my count, it has been 23 days? Does that happen?! There are 3 more eggs to go. I am away so my daughter has been monitoring. She sent me a text picture but I can't figure out how to get it from my phone to computer to post it. It isn't real good anyway. She moved mama, chick and eggs into a separate area. I pray this works out o.k. I can't wait to get there and see mama and chick!!

Moved my momma in her covered cat litter box to a new pen late this afternoon, still one egg to hatch, but all well so far.

Check out this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread
It's a goody.

 

[fenwickchic]

Alas, the 3 other eggs did not make it. It took me so long to give up on them, but I was worried for mamma hen, Goldie's health. So, I candled and at least two had definitely been developing but just didn't make it. I can't seem to get the nerve to crack open the eggs all the way to see. My DH says to just throw them out. So I will. One egg actually had a small hole in it where the chick may have tried to get out or mamma hen tried to help it out? I can actually see the chick fuzz. It got so very hot here in the 90's I think they literally roasted to death before they hatched. It may have been better if she had gotten off the nest a bit later in the hatching to cool them off.

We are so excited about this little chick. I certainly hope it does not turn out to be a cockerel that we have to give away. It is adorable with little feathered feet!! Goldie is a pretty good mamma so far. Puffed up, stuck her wings out, and looked like a turkey when my little dog got near her nursery pen. It was so interesting to watch. I made the dog leave because I am worried about her stress level. I fed her a scrambled egg which she shared with baby because she still seemed to be not eating and her comb and wattles are so pale pink they almost seem white. That can't be good.

I sure hope that your final egg hatches! Don't make the mistake I made and let her sit on it for days longer. It's not good for her or the other chicks.

If I happen to get a broody hen again, I will definitely take more care in planning the "hatch", will number all the eggs, and will definitely candle the eggs sooner. They are brown eggs, so not easy but it can be done. I'm so very glad I at least marked them at one point. I really don't think it was the cooling down the day she got off her eggs that killed them. I think rather it was the extreme heat. Just my guess though. Nothing at all scientific. I'll try to post a picture soon. Please post a picture of your chicks too if you can!