Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[ameliadanielle]

Is it normal for a broody hen to poop 3 times a day? My Buff Orpington only pooped once a day and she also only got off the nest once a day to eat and drink until the chicks hatched.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Is it normal for a broody hen to poop 3 times a day? My Buff Orpington only pooped once a day and she also only got off the nest once a day to eat and drink until the chicks hatched.

No!. In just the last year I have set nearly 65 broody hens, out of the 65 None got off the nest the last 3 days, None pooped in the nest and all hatched all the eggs that were fertile, All eggs were set at the same time so there was no staggered hatch---which saves a lot of headache!

 

[ameliadanielle]

No!. In just the last year I have set nearly 65 broody hens, out of the 65 None got off the nest the last 3 days, None pooped in the nest and all hatched all the eggs that were fertile, All eggs were set at the same time so there was no staggered hatch---which saves a lot of headache!

She went broody in the doghouse where my laying hens like to lay their eggs instead of the multiple supplied nesting boxes all over the yard. It had only been 1 day, so we took some of the eggs from under her that were warm and put them, with some silkie eggs I had been collecting in case a hen went broody. If no more eggs hatch, then she will have hatched less than 50% of her eggs. Honestly... she's done a fantastic job compared to my other weird silkies that seem to have lost their broody gene. Lol. Our Buff Orpington had a very staggered hatch. In fact the three hens we have left of the ones she hatched out, two of them are a week younger than the oldest. She rarely got off the nest. She lost weight. She only pooped once a day. This silkie? She gets off the nest religiously twice a day. She poops outside the nest... inside the nest. Where ever. Two or three poops a day. She never stayed off the nest for more than 5 or 10 minutes but it was like she was competition eating. Just gorging herself. So much that she would have to stop eating to drink water so she could eat some more. She's a new bird to us, we have had her since right before Christmas and she seems to be an older bird, she lays well despite the age. I can't figure out. They've been wormed. After she gets off the nest I may worm her again. I know her love affair with food is causing the plethora of poop, I just didn't experience that last time. She hasn't lost weight at all since she's been broody. Not like our poor Buff Orpington. It took her a month to look normal again after setting. It's just been weird this go round. We put her in the nest box and separated her from the flock 3 weeks ago on a Saturday. So today is day 21. All should have hatched by now unless they are late from her constant eating sessions. She only pooped on the eggs once and I really think it just got stuck to her and she got it on the eggs. She would get off the eggs and poop right out of touching distance from where she was sitting. Instead of getting all the way out to poop. She is a weird weird bird.

 

[ameliadanielle]

Our Buff Orpington had such a staggered hatch because my husband was always the egg collector. He didn't mention to me that this same hen was sitting in the nest every day. Finally I asked him what was going on and why there were so few eggs. He then told me a hen was sitting on them. We debated about leaving her there because she'd been there for almost two weeks already. Well then we cracked a baby chick into a bowl. My husband was collecting the eggs that weren't under her only, but the hens were laying new eggs and the developing ones were being pushed out. So I worried she was going to end up in a never ending cycle of being broody and hatching nothing. So we put her in a box in the garage, I candled all the eggs that she was sitting on and only tried to pick the eggs that were developed the most and seemed to be the same size embryos. I obviously suck at that. So now my husband knows to tell me if he sees the same hen sitting anywhere in the yard two mornings in a row. Because I feed and water and deal with chickens in the morning and it's normal for a few hens to be laying at that time. He goes out mornings and afternoons for eggs so he will recognize a broody before I do(I can't reach the eggs, my arms are too short, I'd have to crawl into that doghouse to reach them, so he indulges my love of chickens by lending me his long arms.) Having dealt with the BO with a week in between babies I thought a day wouldn't be so bad. One of the BOs babies was actually one that I hatched on a heating pad. When I brought her that wet baby and the other egg I had babysat all day she sat on them for a while longer, hatched out the other one to.

 

[ameliadanielle]

This morning when she got off the nest I checked her remaining eggs. Two I tapped on and babies tapped and cheeped back at me, one was that poopy silkie egg. I put those back in. I candled the others, all completely clear. Nothing inside at all. No blood ring or veins that had turned black. No development at all. I'm guessing not fertile or old, some of the silkie eggs I was holding onto were two weeks old. Crossing my fingers she'll sit on them long enough for them to hatch. I'm probably going to be late for work this morning and go home and make sure she's still on the nest after my chiropractic appointment. Otherwise I may be carrying those eggs to work with me and putting them on a heating pad in a box too. Now that I know they're alive alive in there it's hard to let nature take it's course.

 

[nchls school]

Is it normal for a broody hen to poop 3 times a day? My Buff Orpington only pooped once a day and she also only got off the nest once a day to eat and drink until the chicks hatched.

No, it is not usual, but it does happen occasionally. One of my silkies was like your broody hen and I cleaned the nest each day.

 

[ameliadanielle]

I was hoping she would sit on those eggs. So I didn't check on them before work. Came home at lunch, she was off the nest with her babies so she is done with the eggs. The eggs were cold. I didn't feel movement or hear peeping like this morning. I put them in my bra and went back to work. They are moving again and I have heard a peep. Hopefully they can warm up and make it to hatch. *crossed fingers*

 

[ameliadanielle]

The one day for the humidity to be low would be today. We're only at 40% humidity today. It's gorgeous outside. Sunny. 70 degrees. Having a great hair day. Lol. The first time in my life I'm missing that 70-80% humidity.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hopefully they can warm up and make it to hatch. *crossed fingers*

You seem so much to want these eggs to hatch. So I have a question---why didn't you set her a setting of eggs at the same time so they would hatch at the same time so you would not have to be dealing with this?? Just wondering?

 

[nchls school]

I was hoping she would sit on those eggs. So I didn't check on them before work. Came home at lunch, she was off the nest with her babies so she is done with the eggs. The eggs were cold. I didn't feel movement or hear peeping like this morning. I put them in my bra and went back to work. They are moving again and I have heard a peep. Hopefully they can warm up and make it to hatch. *crossed fingers*

Fingers crossed. Good luck.