Need help with broody hen

[lps1215]

I'm having a staggered hatch but with 4 different broody hens. I have hatched out 3 under one mama and she's currently raising the chicks. Today another hatched under a different hen and I plan on leaving it under her until she dries off completely then giving her to the mama with 3 chicks, so the other continues to sit on the unhatched eggs. If i were you I would take the chicks and put them under a heat lamp so she will focus on sitting on the unhatched eggs that are developing. It's a tough situation but maybe after hatching out the rest you can see if she will continue to raise them- if not just continue to use a heat lamp. This is my first time doing a staggered hatch and I will probably never do it again. I'm not an expert but this is what I would do in that situation. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[ColinK48]

Sorry! I had a really busy evening yesterday. How is it today? If you can't get one I suppose leaving it under mama is your only hope. They probably won't make it though unfortunately. She won't stay on them long enough to finish incubating them, and even if you force her to, she really needs to be with her chicks. It's a tough situation.

Yeah the one that was born without absorbing all the yolk is alive but it’s definitely weaker than the others

 

[ColinK48]

I'm having a staggered hatch but with 4 different broody hens. I have hatched out 3 under one mama and she's currently raising the chicks. Today another hatched under a different hen and I plan on leaving it under her until she dries off completely then giving her to the mama with 3 chicks, so the other continues to sit on the unhatched eggs. If i were you I would take the chicks and put them under a heat lamp so she will focus on sitting on the unhatched eggs that are developing. It's a tough situation but maybe after hatching out the rest you can see if she will continue to raise them- if not just continue to use a heat lamp. This is my first time doing a staggered hatch and I will probably never do it again. I'm not an expert but this is what I would do in that situation. I wish you the best of luck!

Thank you! I would never do a staggered hatch again either. I didn’t do it on purpose but somehow it just happened. I was advised at first on another thread to leave the chicks with her and maybe more would hatch, which actually worked somewhat because after the first chick 2 more hatched. I thinking it’s too late to separate the chicks now because she already mothered them

 

[ColinK48]

Final Update for anyone who was involved!!! We had a good ending. Last week our broody hen hatched 3 chicks on Tuesday and Wednesday. She had 5 more eggs after that. I took out one bad egg. On Wednesday afternoon the 3rd chick hatched after she already left the nest. It was small as it did not absorb the yolk but it was fine. On Thursday she took all of her chicks out. I checked the eggs at around lunch to find them all cold. I left the eggs in there and on Friday I heard a peep. Well I had to go to work and came home to find her off the nest with the first chicks and the eggs were cold. However one had began to pip. I locked her up a few hours early on Friday so she would stay on the eggs. I checked the eggs before I went to bed and three had peeped externally. I was very surprised because she did not stay on them during the day. When I woke up Saturday the 4th chick had pipped. So I did not let her off the nest. She wanted out but I also wanted to give the eggs a chance. A few hours later on Saturday none had made any progress. I made the decision to help them hatch as I could not force her to stay on her nest in the heat with 3 chicks for much longer. I peeled off the shell very carefully leaving the 2 membranes after the shell. Well the chicks still made no progess. I then decided to just help them hatch and peeled the inner membranes. I helped each chick and they seemed healthy. I then put them under their mom to dry. I ended up keeping her locked up all of Saturday so the chicks could dry. I did let her out before I locked them up for the night so she could get energy out and so her chicks could go outside. On Sunday I let her and the 7 chicks out. She was a little rough when digging and looking for food and would sometimes kick one but they learned to stay out of the way. The only issue was that all of her chicks were the simmilar in color but one and she was probably confused going from 3 to 7 chicks. And the one with a different color she picked on so I had to separate it and another to keep it company. Anyways she’s doing good with the 5, and the other 2 are good in the brooder.

 

[NorthernMIFlock]

Final Update for anyone who was involved!!! We had a good ending. Last week our broody hen hatched 3 chicks on Tuesday and Wednesday. She had 5 more eggs after that. I took out one bad egg. On Wednesday afternoon the 3rd chick hatched after she already left the nest. It was small as it did not absorb the yolk but it was fine. On Thursday she took all of her chicks out. I checked the eggs at around lunch to find them all cold. I left the eggs in there and on Friday I heard a peep. Well I had to go to work and came home to find her off the nest with the first chicks and the eggs were cold. However one had began to pip. I locked her up a few hours early on Friday so she would stay on the eggs. I checked the eggs before I went to bed and three had peeped externally. I was very surprised because she did not stay on them during the day. When I woke up Saturday the 4th chick had pipped. So I did not let her off the nest. She wanted out but I also wanted to give the eggs a chance. A few hours later on Saturday none had made any progress. I made the decision to help them hatch as I could not force her to stay on her nest in the heat with 3 chicks for much longer. I peeled off the shell very carefully leaving the 2 membranes after the shell. Well the chicks still made no progess. I then decided to just help them hatch and peeled the inner membranes. I helped each chick and they seemed healthy. I then put them under their mom to dry. I ended up keeping her locked up all of Saturday so the chicks could dry. I did let her out before I locked them up for the night so she could get energy out and so her chicks could go outside. On Sunday I let her and the 7 chicks out. She was a little rough when digging and looking for food and would sometimes kick one but they learned to stay out of the way. The only issue was that all of her chicks were the simmilar in color but one and she was probably confused going from 3 to 7 chicks. And the one with a different color she picked on so I had to separate it and another to keep it company. Anyways she’s doing good with the 5, and the other 2 are good in the brooder.

Phew! That was a rough one. Happy to hear she is done sitting and you can relax knowing she will do the work!

 

[MGG]

Final Update for anyone who was involved!!! We had a good ending. Last week our broody hen hatched 3 chicks on Tuesday and Wednesday. She had 5 more eggs after that. I took out one bad egg. On Wednesday afternoon the 3rd chick hatched after she already left the nest. It was small as it did not absorb the yolk but it was fine. On Thursday she took all of her chicks out. I checked the eggs at around lunch to find them all cold. I left the eggs in there and on Friday I heard a peep. Well I had to go to work and came home to find her off the nest with the first chicks and the eggs were cold. However one had began to pip. I locked her up a few hours early on Friday so she would stay on the eggs. I checked the eggs before I went to bed and three had peeped externally. I was very surprised because she did not stay on them during the day. When I woke up Saturday the 4th chick had pipped. So I did not let her off the nest. She wanted out but I also wanted to give the eggs a chance. A few hours later on Saturday none had made any progress. I made the decision to help them hatch as I could not force her to stay on her nest in the heat with 3 chicks for much longer. I peeled off the shell very carefully leaving the 2 membranes after the shell. Well the chicks still made no progess. I then decided to just help them hatch and peeled the inner membranes. I helped each chick and they seemed healthy. I then put them under their mom to dry. I ended up keeping her locked up all of Saturday so the chicks could dry. I did let her out before I locked them up for the night so she could get energy out and so her chicks could go outside. On Sunday I let her and the 7 chicks out. She was a little rough when digging and looking for food and would sometimes kick one but they learned to stay out of the way. The only issue was that all of her chicks were the simmilar in color but one and she was probably confused going from 3 to 7 chicks. And the one with a different color she picked on so I had to separate it and another to keep it company. Anyways she’s doing good with the 5, and the other 2 are good in the brooder.

Sounds like it worked out! Thank you for the update! You did the best you could in those circumstances. Good job.