Indecisive broody hen (drives me crazy)

[bebesdeivanka]

My hen has been broody (all signs, growling, pecking me, sitting on the (infertile) eggs. Day 3, i brought her fertilised eggs (from a friend who has a rooster). She gladly sits on them all day but in the late afternoon she just forgets them and leaves. Today is the second day she has done this.
Are they still viable? Should I give her a day or two? Or should i just ignore her broodiness and take the eggs since she doesn't seem to be serious?

 

[AOrchard]

How long does she leave them for?

 

[bebesdeivanka]

As far as Ive seen it, 2-3 hours.

 

[AOrchard]

What's the temperature where you're at?

I had one hen that would leave for upward of an hour and a half sometimes, she hatched them out fine. I also had a hen get confused and go back to the wrong nest, she was off the eggs for at least 4 hours maybe 6, and they were okay (though some of that time another chicken was on them because there was a new egg). Both of those were in the summer when it was quite warm though.

In any event, I'd leave the eggs for a few days since you've got them under there. Best case, they're fine and mama hen knew what she was doing. Worst case, they don't develop, and you remove them in a week. No big deal and no harm in waiting to be sure.

 

[bebesdeivanka]

What's the temperature where you're at?

I had one hen that would leave for upward of an hour and a half sometimes, she hatched them out fine. I also had a hen get confused and go back to the wrong nest, she was off the eggs for at least 4 hours maybe 6, and they were okay (though some of that time another chicken was on them because there was a new egg). Both of those were in the summer when it was quite warm though.

In any event, I'd leave the eggs for a few days since you've got them under there. Best case, they're fine and mama hen knew what she was doing. Worst case, they don't develop, and you remove them in a week. No big deal and no harm in waiting to be sure.

Yeah, its summertime here in Argentina, today it was cloudy, 26°C. I separated her from the rest of the flock, lets see what happens. I shouldn't had gotten my hopes up (i gave her a special batch of green eggs) .

 

[AOrchard]

Yeah, its summertime here in Argentina, today it was cloudy, 26°C. I separated her from the rest of the flock, lets see what happens. I shouldn't had gotten my hopes up (i gave her a special batch of green eggs) .

Don't give up yet! Fingers crossed for you

 

[Mtnboomer]

I had a hen do tbe exact same year. A 1-2 hr excursion is ok so long as the weather and humidity isn't extremely off.
Mine would Devote herself for about 8-10 days and then for an unknown reason, year after year, abandon them.

This year, i took the divider btw 2 nesting boxes out and used it to close in the combo box. This locked her in but left adequate space around the "temporary wall" so that she could still see out and the others could see her and allow good air flow. Now she had no where to go but sit on her eggs. The extra box space allowed her to have food, water, movement, and a place to poop. She hatched 4 of 5 eggs and was a devoted mother.

Separating her and confining her may help you too.

 

[Willow2253]

I’ve had hens off of the eggs for hours at a time in the winter because they went back to the wrong nest. They still hatched. She’s going to want to get up once a day to do her business/exercise/eat and that’s fine. In the summer a couple of hours off of the nest won’t necessarily be a death sentence for them. One thing I do if I notice a broody has been off her nest for a while is herd her back towards the coop. They tend to get the message and finish up before heading back to their eggs. Sometimes they do need a little intervention to get the right idea. Keeping her separate from the flock with less room to roam away from the nest will help too.
I would recommend candling around day 7 of incubation to see which eggs are viable.

 

[bebesdeivanka]

Yes, i put her in the momma coop, it's around 4m2, and I plan to leave her there in peace. For now it looks like she spent the whole night and all morning on the eggs.
Will update in days if she cancells on me, or in three weeks with baby chicks thank you!

 

[bebesdeivanka]

Hiii guys, yesterday we got 6 healthy, beautiful chicks. One egg was left unhatched but it had yolk, so it was either unfertilised or it stopped before anything developed.
So she actually did a great job