Moving eggs from incubator to broody hen - possible???

[MeTxLady]

Hi all! I have eggs in an incubator that I'd like to put under my broody hen tomorrow. Tomorrow night will be day 18 and time for lock down if I keep in the incubator. The only reason we even have them in an incubator is because we only had one broody when we purchased eggs and I put all the BCM eggs under her hoping for better turn out. Of those 8, 6 are good. They are due to hatch Sunday night. I have 5 eggs in the incubator due to hatch Monday night. Can I put those under my OTHER broody hen that's been broody for about a week? I would of course, move them very, very gently. I think it would be better all the way around, but want advice. Anyone done this before? TIA for any help.

 

[chrissynemetz]

I have never tried that with a hen who has only been broody for a week. I've always used hens who had been broody for almost the full three weeks.

 

[333113]

When I have moved chicks under a broody hen, I have always waited for them to hatch in the incubator. Then I move the first of the chicks in the dark and place it under the hen. I wait to hear the hen start responding to the chick, then I move the rest of the chicks under her.

Most hens will allow a span of about a day or two between what they perceive as the first chick hatched to the last chick hatched, then they will abandon the remaining eggs. If you are close and quick enough to grab any eggs she leaves behind, you can candle them and if they are still viable move those to the still-warmed-up incubator to finish hatching. Then, if you leave at least one egg in the nest (sometimes it works without any extra eggs in the nest) you can sneak any late-hatching chicks under her that evening after dark, to join the others.

In my experience, a broody only a week into the brooding process won't usually accept chicks, and if eggs hatch earlier than she is expecting, she won't accept those, either.

However, if you want extra chicks, you could start incubating eggs right away, or buy chicks in advance, and be prepared to add those chicks under the second broody as her clutch hatches, or soon after.

 

[MeTxLady]

When I have moved chicks under a broody hen, I have always waited for them to hatch in the incubator. Then I move the first of the chicks in the dark and place it under the hen. I wait to hear the hen start responding to the chick, then I move the rest of the chicks under her.

Most hens will allow a span of about a day or two between what they perceive as the first chick hatched to the last chick hatched, then they will abandon the remaining eggs. If you are close and quick enough to grab any eggs she leaves behind, you can candle them and if they are still viable move those to the still-warmed-up incubator to finish hatching. Then, if you leave at least one egg in the nest (sometimes it works without any extra eggs in the nest) you can sneak any late-hatching chicks under her that evening after dark, to join the others.

In my experience, a broody only a week into the brooding process won't usually accept chicks, and if eggs hatch earlier than she is expecting, she won't accept those, either.

However, if you want extra chicks, you could start incubating eggs right away, or buy chicks in advance, and be prepared to add those chicks under the second broody as her clutch hatches, or soon after.

I understand. I've put many newly purchased chicks under broody hens and it's always worked out fine. However, I want to put the eggs from the incubator under my broody because I'm a little worried about the hatch. I started with 22 eggs in the incubator and am down to 5 viable eggs. The incubator is new and it's my first time using one. Temp has remained very steady 99.5 and humidity between 35-45% mainly 42-43% but it did fluctuate a few times down to 29% and up to 55%. We also lost electricity once for a couple hours. As far as the temp and humidity go, this is all based on it's readings. I don't have anything extra in it to test if those settings are accurate. Wondering if that's the problem or if I contaminated eggs the first two times I candled.

 

[333113]

Last time I had a failing hatch, I put in a different thermometer that registered the highest and the lowest temps in the past 24 hours so I could see it from the incubator window. Sure enough, it spiked at 102 several times. Luckily, I still got five chicks, but it was out of a group of 44, so that was disappointing.

I kind of doubt that you contaminated the eggs while candling. Even if you had the lid off and it cooled somewhat while you were candling, that is not substantially different than a hen getting off the nest for a short time. If the incubator is not good, however, the temperature may have spiked too high while getting back to the target temperature. A good incubator (or a mother hen) will not do that. If it's within warranty, I would put in a hi-lo thermometer, and contact the manufacturer if you see a spike. High temps kill eggs faster than low temps.

In your case, I could see adding the eggs under the broody who already has a clutch near completion. She may very well hear the chicks in the shell, and wait until everyone is hatched.

 

[MeTxLady]

Thanks for the info! I will get a thermometer and test the incubator but if it's the problem I can't go out and buy a new one today. My only worry with putting these 5 eggs under the one who has eggs is that she will then have 11 eggs and honestly I'm not sure she can cover them all. I think my best bet is putting them under my other broody. I know she will take the eggs because I've taken eggs out from under her already and put my fake eggs in and she's okay with that. She's also moved boxes so I'll put her in our little hatch cage so she can't jump from box to box when the other hens are laying. Gonna go move her first with the fake eggs and she how she does for a couple hours then move the good eggs from incubator to her. Just gotta hope for the best with what I have to work with. I was hoping to find someone who had done this, but I also know every hen isn't the same so their experience may not be mine. I'll let yáll know how it goes.

 

[MeTxLady]

UPDATE: I put the eggs under my broody. She hatched all of them. The first one died - looked smashed like she may have stepped on it but the other four are a week old now and flourishing. Glad I made the call to turn them over to her - she just wanted some babies!