How long can a hen leave the nest for before the eggs die

[Chickenlover600]

So my bantam hen has been laying on her bantam eggs for 15 days now and she has started to get off and stay off for 30 mins before I start to worry about the eggs and put her next to them to which she sits back down and gets herself comfortable. My question is how long can a hen get off the nest for before it starts effecting the eggs? I live in surprise Arizona for an idea of the temp.

 

[WVduckchick]

As long as it isn’t cold (below 65ish degrees) she knows how long she can stay away. Usually! Does she cover the eggs before she leaves? I wouldn’t worry if it’s an hour or so, as long as the temp outside is fairly warm. It takes a while for the inside egg temp to drop, even a few degrees.

 

[6BeachChicks]

So my bantam hen has been laying on her bantam eggs for 15 days now and she has started to get off and stay off for 30 mins before I start to worry about the eggs and put her next to them to which she sits back down and gets herself comfortable. My question is how long can a hen get off the nest for before it starts effecting the eggs? I live in surprise Arizona for an idea of the temp.

She needs to poop, eat, drink, and maybe take a short dirt bath. Keep an eye on her, but she most likely knows what she’s doing.

 

[Chickenlover600]

She needs to poop, eat, drink, and maybe take a short dirt bath. Keep an eye on her, but she most likely knows what she’s doing.

As long as it isn’t cold (below 65ish degrees) she knows how long she can stay away. Usually! Does she cover the eggs before she leaves? I wouldn’t worry if it’s an hour or so, as long as the temp outside is fairly warm. It takes a while for the inside egg temp to drop, even a few degrees.

She seems to do her business at the beginning than just sits with the rest of the flock and chills. And when I bring her back it seems like she’s thinking “oh yeah forgot about those thanks for reminding me” and sits right on them like nothing happen and no she doesn’t cover them up she just gets up and leaves

 

[SueT]

Some incubators, such as Brinsea, have a 30 min cooling feature each day, to mimic the mama hen spending time away from the nest. It is believed to be beneficial for the eggs.
https://www.brinsea.com/articles/news/cooling.aspx

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Ive had the same concern in the past. I let broodys out for their daily break, & they are sometimes away from their.eggs for up to 40 minutes. Then i usually get nervous and herd them back to the eggs. But i agree with the others; most all broodys instinctively know how long they can be away from the eggs. Its us humans that fret! Plus, as hatch date nears, a chick begins to emit their own heat.

Monitor your broody to make sure you dont have a rare one with an attention deficit, but all should be fine. And hatch date is only a few days away!

 

[Chickenlover600]

Monitor your broody to make sure you dont have a rare one with an attention deficit, but all should be fine. And hatch date is only a few days away!

How would I check for that?

 

[Kiki]

How would I check for that?

I have never heard of anyone saying their chicken had a attention deficit. How could the bird have possibly sat for 15 days already?
Silly.


Is she not blocked off from the rest of the flock?
You may want to think about setting up a barrier do she stays put and so the others don't kill the chicks if they hatch.


Have you candled any eggs to make sure they have been developing?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I made the comment re attention deficit mostly in jest, in reply to what the OP said in post #4. Re monitoring the broody, i simply meant continue to make sure she does go back to her eggs in a reasonable time frame. Sorry i wasnt clear. Post photos when her chickies hatch!

 

[Secondof9]

So my bantam hen has been laying on her bantam eggs for 15 days now and she has started to get off and stay off for 30 mins before I start to worry about the eggs and put her next to them to which she sits back down and gets herself comfortable. My question is how long can a hen get off the nest for before it starts effecting the eggs? I live in surprise Arizona for an idea of the temp.

I agree, most hens know what they're doing. In one of my hatches egg #3 kept getting left outside the nest and not under the hen. A couple of times it felt quite cool to me but I candled it and it looked fine so I just kept tucking it back under Mama. Well, wouldn't you know that egg hatched first!? I guess it must've needed a cooling off and the hen somehow knew that.