My first broody hen!

[ChickenRisa]

Day 6 and she still is sitting tight! In fact she doesn't seem to get off at all to eat or drink or poop unless I come take her off. Today when I got her off I noticed a couple of the eggs look like they have some poopy stuff on them, should I wash them off? Or will they be okay? Should I change the bedding out before the eggs hatch? I did cut away part of the box she's in so she can get in and out easier, I'm hoping that will make her more willing to hop off and eat/drink/poop and will also allow the chicks to get out after they hatch. Should I keep getting her off her nest every day or will she be okay if she's choosing just to chill on the nest. 20 days seems like a long time to not eat or drink, and she always drink a lot every time I get her out, which has only been about every other day so far. Any advice would be super much appreciated!

Tomorrow I'm going to candle the eggs and see if I can see anything!! Hopefully the eggs are all developing!

 

[luvmypets]

GL cmon chickies

 

[Shellz]

I don't wash off eggs. The bloom is a protective barrier. Don't worry, the crap stuck to it won't have any effect.

She may be getting off the nest when you aren't looking. I used to think the same thing with my first broody. I've had 3 now that all did their business without my assistance. There are exceptions to the rule, I suppose. If you have a trail camera, you can set that up to watch her, to be certain. Perhaps she likes the assistance you give her & counts on it now.

 

[ChickenRisa]

So I candled the eggs tonight, and apparently the flashlight I thought would work just fine isn't all that great after all. I could really only see into the white egg, but that egg is definitely growing a squirmy chick!! It was so amazing to see the veins and the little blob in the middle moving around! I was hoping to take pics but apparently my camera is not up to snuff either. I need to get better equipment.

I did have a couple concerns, maybe it's just that I couldn't see through the eggs but I was hoping someone could give me their opinion. Most of the eggs I could vaguely see through the egg and could tell there was a little egg sack at the rounded end of the egg but couldn't tell much more. One of the eggs was very distinctly darker on one half of the egg horizontally, like all the stuff inside had condensed to one side (which did not shift when I turned the egg around). Is that one maybe rotten? Another egg was completely dark, but does this just mean the shell is extra thick or something? It was an olive egger egg. Now that I'm thinking about it I think these two eggs were the ones that have brown spots on their shells that I was assuming was liquid poop from Mama, could that be relevant? I only have six eggs, I was really hoping all of them would be growing chicks! Or is it just too early to tell really and I'm worrying for no reason.

Thanks in advance for help!

 

[ChickenRisa]

So day 20 today! I went out to check on my hen and one egg has pipped!!! YAY! I'm anxious now to see what happens!

When I candled them Saturday night (day 18) all the eggs looked like they had chicks in them! Two I saw movement in, and three (the lighter ones) I could clearly see veins along the edge where the air sac is. A while back she pushed one egg out back too far and it got pretty cold, but I left it in there just in case (which was probably silly but oh well), so here's hoping we get at least five healthy chicks!

 

[luvmypets]

Yay i just got my fifth broody hen this season!

 

[ChickenRisa]

Two chicks have pipped!!

 

[luvmypets]

Yay pics when they hatch!

 

[ChickenRisa]

First one fully hatched!



When I lifted mama to take a peek there she was! Still wet but wiggling about and peeping (which made mama very concerned and she tried to push me away to tuck baby under her again.



One more is still pipping. not peeping anymore but I can see the chick moving around in there so I'm hoping she'll hatch out during the night!



Here's the two eggs back when they were both pipping (the first chick came out of that olive colored egg!) Hopefully there will be more pips in the morning! When do I give up hope and toss out eggs that have not hatched?

 

[Shellz]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing. I would give up when mom does. Mom will decide when to take her dry, hatched chicks out to find food/water. This is usually within 3 days of first chick hatching.