Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Lady of McCamley]

Thank you so much for the help! I think she Destroyed the blue egg because it was the only one that is colored, she accepted all of the new eggs, even if they did smell like sharpy! ( I marked them so that I could discard of any new eggs that got put in the nest. Unfortunately, I didn't think of marking the older and the new eggs... I think I will set up an extra incubator that I have on day 18 for the new eggs, in case she leaves them for hatched chicks. Do you think that would work? This is my first time, so I really am trying. Oh! and I crack open one of the soiled eggs, and it had already started to form! There her tiny blood veins all over the inside of the shell... Very interesting.

I need help! So, I had a BCM hen go broody. I was really excited about it, and put 7 eggs under her, one being a blue egg. Well, She DEMOLISHED that blue egg, and soiled the nest. I had to throw away 4 eggs that had gotten really dirtied, and replaced them with new eggs, ( all brown this time!) My Question is, she went broody on Saturday. So the eggs have a 4 day difference. Will this cause any problems? Only 3 original eggs are left. The rest are new. Any advice?

Sydney Acres gave you good advice on what to do for the staggered hatching...and yes cranking up the incubator may be a good idea in case she leaves the eggs before the late arrivals hatch.

Just a FYI...you could have hatched those soiled eggs. Broody hens poo on eggs all the time, and while it definitely is not preferable, I have had plenty of eggs hatch that were soiled. If you catch it before it dries, gently wipe as much as you can off with soft bedding or a cloth trying not to rub the natural bloom off the egg. The hen places a bloom on the egg as it passes through her egg duct which protects the egg from bacteria entering through the shell. Nature's own remedy for untidy hens.

I like to make the broody nests out of the following materials as I find it easy to clean if the hen poos in the nest....a bottom layer pine shavings, at least 2 inches deep, then top layer of soft timothy hay or dried grass that I get from the pet store. You don't need much, so the expensive little package goes a long way. The timothy hay/dried grass clumps when soiled and makes it easy to remove a poo mess (sort of like clumping cat litter). I didn't use it this time around and regret that I didn't...it really does make it easy to clean a messy nest. The timothy hay is also good for gently wiping off soiled eggs.

Good luck with the rest of your hatch.
Lady of McCamley

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
If there's a 4 day difference in the old and new eggs, I would recommend setting up the incubator at least by day 15. Sometimes eggs under a broody hatch 1-2 days early (because some broodies are just that good!). The hen may stay with unhatched eggs until the early chicks are 1-3 days old, but maybe not, and you want to have the incubator up to temp and working well 1-2 days before you need it. Since you've got an incubator that plan should work quite well, especially if you don't have a second broody hen (if you do have another hen go broody you can have her set on some ceramic eggs or golf balls to keep her brooding until it's time to put the late eggs or incubator chicks under her). If you don't have a second broody, you'll have to decide if you want to try putting the incubator chicks under this hen after they hatch, given the risks already mentioned, or do you want to brood them yourself.

I didn't want to be the one to break the news to you, but Lady of McCamley is right about the soiled eggs. As long as you didn't wash the eggs at all before putting them under the hen, the bloom on the surface of the egg is quite an effective sealant. If an egg is soiled by either broody poo, the contents of another egg that breaks, or dirt from a broody's feet, you can just wipe the egg off with the dried bedding. Some debris will stick to the surface, but the egg is set up to handle that. If the surface is still sticky from the debris, I would think you can probably dust it with corn starch until it's not sticky anymore (I've never had to do that and just thought of it -- does everyone think that would work, or are there likely any problems with doing that? I've dusted my broody's fluff with corn starch when she got poo stuck to the feathers, and it worked great). I've had apparently unfertilized eggs incubated under a broody for 25 days before deciding to open one. Even with that length of time at ~100 degrees, the insides weren't rotten. That's a pretty amazing work of nature. Of course, it's never desirable to have soiled eggs, as there is the possibility that the sealant will fail and the embryo or newly hatched chick will die of infection. But usually everything works just like it's supposed to, and the embryo inside is protected for the goop outside. But please don't feel bad that you threw away the soiled eggs. The vast majority of us would have done the same thing until we learned that it's not necessary.

 

[saltandpepper2]

If there's a 4 day difference in the old and new eggs, I would recommend setting up the incubator at least by day 15. Sometimes eggs under a broody hatch 1-2 days early (because some broodies are just that good!). The hen may stay with unhatched eggs until the early chicks are 1-3 days old, but maybe not, and you want to have the incubator up to temp and working well 1-2 days before you need it. Since you've got an incubator that plan should work quite well, especially if you don't have a second broody hen (if you do have another hen go broody you can have her set on some ceramic eggs or golf balls to keep her brooding until it's time to put the late eggs or incubator chicks under her). If you don't have a second broody, you'll have to decide if you want to try putting the incubator chicks under this hen after they hatch, given the risks already mentioned, or do you want to brood them yourself.

I didn't want to be the one to break the news to you, but Lady of McCamley is right about the soiled eggs. As long as you didn't wash the eggs at all before putting them under the hen, the bloom on the surface of the egg is quite an effective sealant. If an egg is soiled by either broody poo, the contents of another egg that breaks, or dirt from a broody's feet, you can just wipe the egg off with the dried bedding. Some debris will stick to the surface, but the egg is set up to handle that. If the surface is still sticky from the debris, I would think you can probably dust it with corn starch until it's not sticky anymore (I've never had to do that and just thought of it -- does everyone think that would work, or are there likely any problems with doing that? I've dusted my broody's fluff with corn starch when she got poo stuck to the feathers, and it worked great). I've had apparently unfertilized eggs incubated under a broody for 25 days before deciding to open one. Even with that length of time at ~100 degrees, the insides weren't rotten. That's a pretty amazing work of nature. Of course, it's never desirable to have soiled eggs, as there is the possibility that the sealant will fail and the embryo or newly hatched chick will die of infection. But usually everything works just like it's supposed to, and the embryo inside is protected for the goop outside. But please don't feel bad that you threw away the soiled eggs. The vast majority of us would have done the same thing until we learned that it's not necessary.

Well, that makes me feel awful! The reason why I go rid of them is because a friend of mine had a broody hen break the egg, and the soiled egg killed the embryo of all but 2 chicks. The hen had had 10 eggs. I thought that always happened.... Now I fell like a murderer!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

I closed up my restless broody in her coop a couple days ago and she stayed on her nest. When I came home yesterday, I let her out. She got a little frustrated when she saw the rest of the flock through the fence, but after a bit she went back to her nest, and I closed the coop again. So I think the move was ultimately successful!! I'm so excited for her chicks next week! I wish I knew when she had started sitting. Candling confirmed my thoughts that she is somewhere around day 15 or 16, but I'm not sure. I'm also not entirely sure some of the other hens didn't slip eggs into her nest after she started sitting, but before I moved her. So they could be a day or two off. I removed some clear eggs when I candled. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

 

[acsteele]

Our first two broody girls, the Buff Orpington is a couple of days ahead of the Silkie.
they are each sitting on four mutt eggs from a friend, at least two nut the Orp are pipped...and lots of peeping going on there

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Well, that makes me feel awful! The reason why I go rid of them is because a friend of mine had a broody hen break the egg, and the soiled egg killed the embryo of all but 2 chicks. The hen had had 10 eggs. I thought that always happened.... Now I fell like a murderer!

Well, this may sound harsh, but.... chicks die all the time. And when we're new at this, sometimes a chick might die because we didn't know some little detail about what's best to do in a particular situation. Point being: You're not a murderer. You're a chicken keeper learning how to do better.

 

[saltandpepper2]

Well, this may sound harsh, but.... chicks die all the time. And when we're new at this, sometimes a chick might die because we didn't know some little detail about what's best to do in a particular situation. Point being: You're not a murderer. You're a chicken keeper learning how to do better.

Well, thanks for those nice words I thought they would die, so I thought it would be less cruel for them to die when they had no felling, then to die right before the hatch... Live and Learn I guess... I'll keep you guys updated on my broody, and hopefully everything will go alright!

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

My BSL refused to sit on the 3 eggs I gave her and wanted nothing to do with the broody pen. I let her out and now she is back in the spot I took her from. Need to figure something out to keep her from letting extra eggs when I let her sit. Might move the pen closer to where she is wanting to sit. Less change then. Will check back later if I get it done today.

 

[K Epp]

I have found drawing a ring around the egg makes it easy to pull stolen eggs out of the nest.

 

[fisherlady]

I have found drawing a ring around the egg makes it easy to pull stolen eggs out of the nest.

x2.... a simple dark line the whole way around works great