Ok so I have a broody hen now what??

[smom1976]

My kids have been telling me that we have a hen that has not left the nest box .. on the first day my daughter who is 7 actually picked her up out of the box brought her to me INSIDE

and told me she was sick.. i said she is fine put her down and leave her alone.

Ok so she has been in the box 4 days and has 3 eggs under her.. I know she will do a very good job she is my fluffy cochin so I am not worried about the cold for the babies or anything like that.. BUT

#1 How do I figure time? How long will it be?

#2 They may not be fertill.. we have a roo but I check their eggs when we eat them and some are many are not.. I would say 40% to 60% fertill. Does she know if they are fertill or not?

#3 she is my least developed of my cochins.. She must have just started laying.. All the others have much larger waddels and combs.. Hers is small and red..
And her eyes are RED.. I am not kidding.. she gets all fluffed up and irritated when we come in at her.. But the colored part of her eyes that is normally hay colored are red...

So I am totally new at this.. I mail ordered my chicks..

But I totally wanted an incubator and I got one.. Now I need help figuring out the details..

 

[coffeemama]

It's 21ish days from when she began to sit on them. You can put some other fertile eggs under her, and take the others out-if she hasn't been broody very long.

 

[happyhens]

I would remove the other eggs if she hasn't been setting on them very long and put a fresh bunch of about 6-8 eggs under her (if she is a bantam cochin). If they are all bantam eggs she should be able to cover 8 without any problems. If they are larger she needs a smaller bunch. If she is a standard cochin she can sit on more eggs. Hint- If the nest is deep you can fit a few more eggs under her. I candle the eggs at about a week and throw out any that haven't developed, to make more room for the other live eggs. Good luck! Wish I had a broody hen! I do have a buff Orpington hen that went broody last year, and a young white silkie hen that is about old enough to start laying eggs. So hopefully when the weather warms up a little I will have a broody...

 

[smom1976]

I dont know if my egg is fertill untill it gets in the pan and I look..

I might stick a few eggs under her that I know have roamed with the roo..

I put an EE egg under her and a sex link and one other good looking egg..

I will add some hay in there tomorrow it was kinda bare bottom.. I might get out in the cold and do it tonight too..

OH how I want babies..

so I will mark on the callendar 21 days from today.. just to be sure.

 

[Jenski]

Make sure she is eating . . . I have been tempting my broody bantam cochin with mush made of warmed layer pellets and hot water, with a bit of oatmeal or oat bran mixed in.

You might try candling around 5 days; you should see some veins then.

Adding extra padding in the bottom of the nest box helps. Make sure when you get near hatch that you have her in a secure place at ground level.

Good luck!

 

[ginbart]

I was told if she keeps laying eggs in the box, the 21 days doesn't start until she has layed all the eggs, another words if she lays 5 more eggs in 5 days then the 21 doesn't start until 5 days from now.

I hope someone who knows better then me will answer this for you.

 

[Mahonri]

Make certain that no other hens can get into her box. I'm telling you this from experience. It's best if she can be isolated. As a kid we had a light brahma go broody and I would put a can of mash in one front corner and a can of water in the other front corner and make certain that they couldn't tip. I would freshen them every day and she had a marvelous hatch.

Also, if you have an incubator, you could but some fertile eggs in there also and that way if her eggs didn't make it in 21 days, you could take some of your newly hatched chicks and put them under her at night. Chochins, silkies and brahmas are the best of mother hens.

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
hmmm I wonder..about the date??

I stuck three eggs under her.. maybe I should have done it like at midnight.. but she moved to the nest box next to her and it had two eggs in it.. I dont even know if they are even hers but only one can be hers.. and that would be a miracle considering she hasnt eaten or drank anything that i know of.

So I stuck the other eggs back under her so now she has 8 eggs at least under her.. she is so big and gets all fluffed up it is hard to tell how many.. but it should be at least 8 eggs.

mahonri:
I think we might move her into our big dog crate on our screened in porch.. put a nest in it and some food and water.. I offered her some food and she didnt even hardly look at it..

 

[ginbart]

Boy I wish I could find the thread where they talked about that. I will keep looking.