OK, I REALLY need some advice!!

[shelleyd2008]

Ok here's the deal...

My OEG hen has been brooding for 24 days. She started with 15 eggs (she had a hidden nest). She has been outside, and the place where she decided to nest is not a very good one. The eggs keep getting chilled. I know now that I should have moved her, but I can't do anything about that now.

About 7 days into her brood, I noticed that some of the eggs were being pushed out. I ended up bringing those inside to the bator, 5 in all. 3 developed: 1 live hatch, 1 dead in shell, and 1 quitter at at least day 15 if not later.

I checked the eggs the hen was still on yesterday. Of the 10 that were left, 4 were rotten, and 6 were developing. I went out last night to trade her for some different eggs, to keep her on the nest, so I could add the 1 chick that hatched inside with no problems. Just wait and give her all the chicks at once. One of the eggs she had uder her was pipped.

That chick zipped almost all the way around the shell and died. I candled the other eggs again, and there is one that has pipped the membrane, but not the shell. The others look good still, but some don't look like they are ready yet, at day 24? But the veins are still really red, they just look like they still have a few days.

Ok, after all that, my question

How can I give her the chick(s) back? Or should I even bother? The one that I have is already over 2 days old, and my dad said if I wait too long it wouldn't stay with her. But I don't want to wait and give her chicks later, because i'm afraid she would kill them. I would rather give them all to he at once.
Should I just leave her with the eggs I put under her, and hope she sits on them long enough, or just give her the chick that is already hatched? I just don't know what to do!!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Funny--I too had an OEG that decided to brood in a very strange place. We left her, and the night the chicks were hatching-she got spooked off the nest. Five chicks were running all over the place. We caught the 5 and put them in a brooder while we tried to get the hen to set again on the remaining 5 eggs. She sat, hatched out three more( the rest were duds). Then the next night we tried to give her back the 5 that we had in the brooder. She would not accept them, and the next morning she was chasing them away, so we ended up keeping them in the brooder.

Does this help you at all?

 

[shelleyd2008]

See, that's what I worry about! I got this hen this summer, and she had 6 chicks with her. 3 were black, 2 red, and 1 white and red. She almost killed one of the black ones, and would not let them (the black ones) anywhere near her! So I am fairly sure she would kill any chicks that weren't there to begin with. I don't want to just take the chicks and leave her with nothing, but I don't want her to kill any either! Or abandon them, as it is getting somewhat chilly here at night.

 

[lowcountrypoultry]

Put them under her at night, and watch her for awhile.

This worked for me, I put four hatchery ducklings under my broody muscovy.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Could you not just keep them in a brooder?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I could but I feel guilty with her doing all that work for nothing

I have 2 other hens that have young chicks, and my dad keeps telling me I should take them away. I did that with one a few weeks ago, and she has just now gotten to where she is not looking for them all the time! It just killed me, so sad to watch.

 

[miss_thenorth]

If the chicks are pipping right now--put the hatched ones under her at night. then get up early in the morning and go see if they have been accepted. If not, you need to keep them in a brooder. The chick should stay with her, it needs the warmth she provides. I would be concerned about the hen not accepting the chicks.

One thing about this, is it is not cut and dry. You'll never know until you try.

Good luck.

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

Could you just move the whole family into the garage in a huge box or something?
i have heard that introducing new chickies to the hen at night is the best way...they'll smell like they belong by the time she wakes up!

 

[jvls1942]

stop it ! quit inflictiong emotions on chickens that don't exist>>

You are feeling guilty.. the chicken is feeling nothing.. If all the chicks were with the hen and they got eaten by a fox, the hen would be over it in minutes.. sure she might look for them for awhile, but as soon as she got hungry, she eats and all is back to normal..

you can give the chicks back to the hen and she might kill them.. then what do you have?? no chicks and a hen who still could't care less..