Letting a broody hatch some eggs

[NatJ]

Thankyou so much for that , I was concerned that it wouldn’t be enough protein etc for the hens and also might affect their egg production.. now that I know that I’ll give my still broody hen some more eggs to hatch ( after she has had a rest )

Regarding protein, just read the label on the bag. Chick starter generally has more protein than layer feed.

As @FrostRanger said, the only real issue with hens eating chick starter is that it does not have enough calcium. Poviding a separate dish of oyster shell is the easy fix. Chickens will generally eat the right amount of oyster shell for their own needs: more for the layers, none or very little for the chicks and any roosters or non-laying hens. No, you don't have to worry about the chicks having access to the oyster shell. They don't seem to like the taste until they get old enough to need it.

 

[NatJ]

I also only let them sit on the rounded eggs I could find. It sounds like a wive's tale, but then I came across this research and decided to give it a try. Of course more research is needed, but they had 85% accuracy. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9832119/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9832119/

I agree that more research is needed.

Regarding that particular study, I find two big problems with it:
--they trained the computer algorithm on the eggs, and then had it "predict" the sex of those SAME eggs as a way to test accuracy.
--they sexed the chicks at 1 week of age "by visual inspection based on their body size, comb color, and feathering." I would like to see any evidence that chicks can be sexed accurately at that age by that method. And no, I'm pretty sure they were not feather-sexable, given that the eggs were "bought from the local backyard poultry farms" which had "a hybrid flock."

The introductory matter talking about how useful it would be to sex eggs by shape before incubation: yes, it would be great. Everyone agrees about that. But so far no-one has actually come up with a reliable method of doing it.

I allowed one hen to have 3 eggs and one to have 2. I ended up with 4 hens and a roo. So 75% accuracy? Or just pretty good luck

I think you just had good luck.

For comparison:
One time I hatched 4 round eggs and 4 pointy eggs, carefully separated in mesh bags at hatching, and then I marked the chicks with a different legbands and kept track of them until they were old enough to be positive about the sex.
4 round eggs hatched 3 cockerels and 1 pullet.
4 pointy eggs hatched 2 cockerels and 2 pullets.

It looks to be just as random as chicks from any other set of 4 or 8 eggs.

 

[Clucky Nan]

Regarding protein, just read the label on the bag. Chick starter generally has more protein than layer feed.

As @FrostRanger said, the only real issue with hens eating chick starter is that it does not have enough calcium. Poviding a separate dish of oyster shell is the easy fix. Chickens will generally eat the right amount of oyster shell for their own needs: more for the layers, none or very little for the chicks and any roosters or non-laying hens. No, you don't have to worry about the chicks having access to the oyster shell. They don't seem to like the taste until they get old enough to need it.

That’s very helpful information, Thankyou for that . I always have shell grit in their coop for the hens , I did notice that the chicks weren’t interested in it .
Most of them seem to be not laying at the moment . The remaining chicks that I kept are still a while off that stage . The black australorp hen is broody so not laying and out of the 3 hi line hens only 1 seems to be laying!
I was worried that it may have been from the chick foods though now I know that’s not the case . Thanks again

 

[ForFlocksSake]

I solved the mystery! Been getting about 3 donated eggs per day in my broody’s nest.

Caught in the act:

 

[Clucky Nan]

I solved the mystery! Been getting about 3 donated eggs per day in my broody’s nest.

Caught in the act:
View attachment 4078782

Two’s company !

 

[Dakota60]

I posted yesterday about one of my hens showing signs of going broody and asked how I can break her of it. I decided today to instead let her try hatching some eggs. I dont have a rooster, but my friend does and will be giving me a few fertilized eggs tomorrow. For now I am letting my broody girl sit on some unfertilized eggs. I attempted to move her to a secluded area but she wasn't having it. My question is, is it ok to just leave a hen to sit on a nest in the main coop? So far it seems like the other girls are leaving her alone and she is definitely doing a good job protecting her nest. Im aware I will likely have to separate her and the babies (or just the babies alone) when they hatch, but that Is not a problem as I already have some chicks coming the same week and can add them to the brooder. Has anyone had experience just letting their hen do her thing and not messing with the setup?

Do I need to put food and water inside the coop or will she come out to eat and drink? We have multiple feeders and waterers available outside including right outside of the coop door. I prefer not to put food in the coop if possible.

Our coop is not walk- in but plenty big. They are completely enclosed but the outside space they have is HUGE. we've worked hard making a very large enclosure with different sections for them to roam.

One last question - what do I use to mark the fertilized eggs? May be a silly question but can marker penetrate the shell and harm the embryo?

I would NOT use permanent marker. I only use pencil to mark my incubator eggs.

 

[Dakota60]

I would NOT use permanent marker. I only use pencil to mark my incubator eggs.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

checked my girl today (2:30) and she was sitting on the wrong nest! I collected the extra eggs from her correct nest and put her back on, but I’m worried now the eggs won’t hatch. My guess is when she left this morning to get something to eat someone else sat to lay and she just went somewhere else. No idea how long the fertilized eggs have been sitting unheated

It’s currently 77 degrees here but was cooler this morning.

Is this doomed now?

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Decided I need to move her. With all the extra donated eggs and now her box being hijacked, I just don’t think she’s secure in the main coop. Unfortunately there isn’t a way to block her in there either and I want her to have access to dust bathe.

We actually just finished a small extension off our run for my “nursery”. It’s blocked off from the main run but still completely visible. It has a pop door to the main run that will stay closed. I went ahead and put my old prefab coop in there and a feeder and water outside. I use plastic bins for nesting boxes and happen to have an extra identical box, so I put that in there for her nest. I’m going to try moving her after dark tonight.

I hope this works. She seems very committed but I’m so worried the new digs will freak her out. Has anyone had success doing this?

 

[NatJ]

checked my girl today (2:30) and she was sitting on the wrong nest!

It’s currently 77 degrees here but was cooler this morning.

Is this doomed now?

Not doomed. They've got a good chance of being fine.

Give them several days, then candle to see how they are doing. Live, healthy eggs will keep growing during that time. Dead eggs will not. If there are some dead ones and some live ones, you will probably be able to tell the difference. If they are all dead or all alive, see whether they have the right level of development for how many days they are (alive) or less development (died several days before candling.)

I’m going to try moving her after dark tonight.

I hope this works. She seems very committed but I’m so worried the new digs will freak her out. Has anyone had success doing this?

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

It seems to depend on the hen. Some hens are determined to sit, and will stay anywhere you put them. Some hens are determined to sit in the place they chose and will refuse any efforts to move them. Some hens quit sitting if you disturb them (seems unlikely with the way yours has been acting, but no guarantees.)

If you move her tonight, I would check on her soon after sunup, then if she seems good, I'd check again whenever you can during the day. If she seems happy with the new place, that's great!

If you check tomorrow and she is pacing the fence trying to get back to her old nest, try putting her in the prefab coop with the nest and shut her in. I mean no access even to the run of the prefab coop, just the little dark area with the nest. Let her out once or twice a day to eat/drink/dustbathe, but other than that leave her shut in until she accepts the situation, or until it's been too many days and you give up. I'd say "too many days" would be at least three, maybe longer.

If you have a similar situation in future, it's easier to move the hen right away and give her fake eggs, so you aren't worried about the real eggs getting cold if she doesn't settle right away. Then if she is willing to set in the place you chose, you can give her the eggs you want her to hatch. But that's something to consider for next time, not anything that will help right now.