Is my broody hen eating???

[pcreel]

You could save some up then give them to her later so they Hatch at the same time. Maybe you should build the nest up right for her.
I have a square wood box then i use straw or coastal hay and circle it found and round during a nice high nest they seem to like it. She can hunker down fluffout and cover the eggs i chose specific eggs And gave them to her.
She accepted them and seems happy.

 

[bumpercarr]

You could save some up then give them to her later so they Hatch at the same time. Maybe you should build the nest up right for her.
I have a square wood box then i use straw or coastal hay and circle it found and round during a nice high nest they seem to like it. She can hunker down fluffout and cover the eggs i chose specific eggs And gave them to her.
She accepted them and seems happy.

I would love to do that, but she gets pretty irritated with me when I try to move her around to put any fluff in her box. Fortunately, the other hens are all laying in other boxes (she's probably a little irritable with them as well

) I'll see tomorrow if I can build a nest for her and then I'll put some freshly laid eggs in her nest and see what happens. I did try to build up around her today and I notice that she is now keeping the eggs under her better. If only I could get it build up in front of her, but I don't like getting pecked! Doesn't hurt much, just kind of scares you into an automatic reaction. I do lift her up though so that I can see how many eggs there are and make sure that no one is laying more eggs in her box. If I put some more under her, they will hatch later, but it would be a good back up in case the first ones don't hatch. I'd like to buy some specific breeds to put under her, but I don't want to do that until I know that she will and can hatch them and then raise them.

One question that I do have is that my henhouse where she is sitting is raised up and I'm afraid if she hatches chicks out that they will fall and hurt themselves. Does anyone know of anything I can do to prevent this from happening?

 

[Den in Penn]

Putting new eggs under her with the old eggs still there is not a good thing to do. The first eggs hatch and most hens will wait two to three days then get up off the nest to tend the already hatched chicks, leaving the unhatched eggs go cold. A fall of a few feet won't hurt the chicks. You could close the door. But they will have to learn how to get in and out sometime.

 

[pcreel]

yes. I have the same worry. I was thinking of constructing a shelf then ramp maybe padded so the chicks if they climb out can slide down into a brooder pen I'm making.I just don't want the predators to get them. even if you construct a cardboard funnel type to route them you can easily tack in place with staple gun. just have to use imagination. if there is plenty straw on the floor I'm sure they will be ok of they fall. ever see them sexing the chicks on video? they toss them around pretty harshly.

 

[bumpercarr]

Putting new eggs under her with the old eggs still there is not a good thing to do. The first eggs hatch and most hens will wait two to three days then get up off the nest to tend the already hatched chicks, leaving the unhatched eggs go cold. A fall of a few feet won't hurt the chicks. You could close the door. But they will have to learn how to get in and out sometime.

I'm just afraid that she let the eggs go cold. She's sitting on them tight now that I've built up a nest for her, but she was letting them come out from underneath her for a few days. I would stuff them back in, much to her chagrin, but we had a 35 degree night and I'm afraid that the eggs wouldn't survive. If you think they are good, I'll leave them be. If not though, maybe I should swap them out with some freshly laid eggs? I'm new to this chick mothering, so please excuse the stupidity

!

 

[bumpercarr]

yes. I have the same worry. I was thinking of constructing a shelf then ramp maybe padded so the chicks if they climb out can slide down into a brooder pen I'm making.I just don't want the predators to get them. even if you construct a cardboard funnel type to route them you can easily tack in place with staple gun. just have to use imagination. if there is plenty straw on the floor I'm sure they will be ok of they fall. ever see them sexing the chicks on video? they toss them around pretty harshly.

It's a three foot drop out of the house, but you have a good idea to bed it down with straw and maybe I'll throw some shavings in for good measure. I just wish I'd been better prepared. I kept hoping one of them would get broody, but then when it happened I wasn't prepared.

 

[Den in Penn]

Not being sure how long they were exposed to the cold I think I would swap them. And yes chicks can easily take a fall of three feet. The first time there is always a steep learning curve.

 

[bumpercarr]

Not being sure how long they were exposed to the cold I think I would swap them. And yes chicks can easily take a fall of three feet. The first time there is always a steep learning curve.

So, I swapped out the eggs tonight. I opened the ones that had been under her to see how they were doing. There was blood in two of the eggs, so I'm assuming that they were fertilized and good, they probably would have hatched had nothing gone wrong. The third egg didn't look any different than a fresh egg, so I am guessing it was not going to grow into a chick. I replaced with 3 eggs from today, now the waiting begins. I'm beginning to feel like an expectant mother.