how long can a broody hen be off her eggs?

[elaineinspain]

I agree with aart. Give her a few days for the chick to grow stronger and learn to follow her about and then choose a day to let them out with the others when you can be there to supervise. Providing safe places for the chick to hide where the adult birds can't get to it is helpful. I have a bottomless cage that I chock up on 75mm timber blocks or bricks and I put the chick crumb in there for the chicks, so that they learn to duck in there for food and water and to get out of the way of the adults if they need to. It means the rest of the flock are not guzzling their chick crumb and the broody can get food from the adult hen feeder for herself. You can start by putting the broody in the cage with the chick for a few days so she shows it the feeder and then chock the cage up a bit and lift the broody out but leave the chick in, so that the chick learns to duck under to get out when the broody calls it. I hope that makes sense. I would keep the broody and chick within the flock if at all possible. The broody should either protect her chick or teach it how to avoid any bully hens. If you have a major bully hen that will not leave them alone, then consider isolating the bully rather than the broody and chick.

yes, it does make sense. Thank you.
I'll need to see if I can find some sort of cage/ chicken tractor type get up that the chick can enter but the adults can't...

 

[Matbirch]

My hen is sitting on her eggs but she gets up every 15-30mins it's 90 here almost all day and when I feel the eggs they are warm but she just doesn't seem that into it I just want to know if I should get rid of the sitting eggs and start collecting again or wait it out and see

 

[aart]

My hen is sitting on her eggs but she gets up every 15-30mins it's 90 here almost all day and when I feel the eggs they are warm but she just doesn't seem that into it I just want to know if I should get rid of the sitting eggs and start collecting again or wait it out and see

How long has she been broody?
Is she on them all night?
I don't think you need to replace the eggs but,
you might want to rethink allowing her to hatch when it's so hot.
She may know the eggs are warm enough,
or she may be suffering from the heat.

Some of the threads in this search might help you assess your situation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/se...ot+weather&t=post&o=relevance&c[title_only]=1

 

[rebrascora]

@Matbirch
Four things occur to me if she is getting off the nest that often.....

1. She is not a committed broody....either you gave her eggs too soon or she just isn't really a good broody
2. The nest is infested with red mites and she cannot bear to sit tight because she is being eaten alive.... broody hens and their nests are extremely prone to mite infestation and one of my best broodies abandoned her nest of eggs with just a few days to go one year because it was crawling with mites.... I now dust my broody nests with DE before I set eggs and again 2 or 3 times during their confinement.
3. She is being bullied off the nest by other hens wanting to lay in her nest....obviously only applicable if she is in a communal nest box and a low ranking hen herself.
4. The nest box is just too hot for her to stay in there.

 

[Abriana]

Before 18 days she can be off for at least half an hour, and it is even good for the eggs to chill a little during this time. After 18 days, she shouldn't get up anymore, and at day twenty, if you have been touching the eggs, do not anymore because the baby chicks are getting into hatching position and any touching or moving of the eggs you might do, can jolt them out of position and they have to waste energy getting back into position, which is energy they need for hatching.

 

[Matbirch]

She sits at night and until about 7 730 in the morning then she is barely ever sitting but its very hot we decided to take the eggs and let the summer pass

 

[aart]

She sits at night and until about 7 730 in the morning then she is barely ever sitting but its very hot we decided to take the eggs and let the summer pass

I wonder if she's just 'roosting(sleeping) in a nest' and not actually broody?

 

[Matbirch]

That's what I was also thinking because if not those eggs are going to waste so I just went ahead and stopped it for now hopefully she is ok with that I'm in the process of buying some farm land and I'm putting hatching off til we're all settled because I imagine that will be scary for them at first to move but they will have alot of room

 

[rascal66]

This is old thread, but I also have a broody right now. I saw her out doing her thing, and about 4/5 hours later I found her on a different nest.... Those eggs have been probably cold for a good 4 or 5 hours. Will they make it?

 

[aart]

This is old thread, but I also have a broody right now. I saw her out doing her thing, and about 4/5 hours later I found her on a different nest.... Those eggs have been probably cold for a good 4 or 5 hours. Will they make it?

Probably, what day is she on and how warm was the ambient temperature?
This is why I like to confine broodies with one nest and no other contributors.