Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bumpercarr]

If all the eggs were in the nest when she started setting, regardless of how long ago they'd been laid before she started setting, then they will all hatch reasonably close together, within 1-2 days. You get an excessively staggered hatch (3 or more days) when the broody is on the nest and another hen comes and sits beside her to lay an egg, or uses the nest to lay an egg when the broody is off eating for a few minutes. Since broodies can't count, she'll just pull all the local eggs under her and start brooding them, regardless of how long her original eggs have been developing. Chicks are starting to leave the nest on their third day, so mom has to decide if she should get up and take care of a chick that is already hatched, or stay on a nest to hatch any late eggs. Typically she will abandon the unhatched eggs at that point, and the embryo will die, even if it just needed a few more hours of warmth. I had a chick hatch early on day 18 last week. The broody was still setting on an egg on day 21 when the day 18 chick jumped out of the nestbox. Because the hen was still in her broody trance, she didn't do anything to help it, and it was too small to jump back into the box at the time. It got quite chilled, but luckily was found in time. Hens really can't both incubate eggs and take care of active chicks at the same time.

If you do decide to move her, realize that most broodies prefer a private area that is quiet and has dim lighting (although there are exceptions). That will give you your best chance of her sticking with the brood for the full time needed. If you need to move a broody, do it quickly, efficiently, quietly, and at night. This has to be a no-drama event. Have the new nest area all ready to go, with the appropriate bedding, box, whatever you plan to use. It should be in an area where she cannot go back to her original nest, if possible. Get some of her original nesting material, feathers that she's plucked, and the eggs moved with her. Depending on your circumstances, it may be best to do this all in one trip, or in two trips, but have everything planned out before you do it. I personally prefer to have the broody pen all ready to go, and have a nest in a box, as opposed to a nest that can't be easily picked up and moved. I collect some of the original nest bedding and brood feathers earlier in the evening, and put a little bit of the new nest bedding in her original nest at that time so she becomes familiar with the smell before the move. I put several heat packs in the new nest box and cover it to slightly warm the bedding. Then after it's fully dark and she hasn't been disturbed for at least 3-4 hours, I wash my hands (because I'll be touching the eggs and don't want to get any new bacteria from me on them), remove the heat packs from the new nest box and take it to her with the dimmest light where I can see what I'm doing. (Important note: If you're using a flashlight in your pocket, be sure that the light cannot fall out of your pocket when you bend over. Luckily, it missed the eggs by an inch!!!) I pick her up and put her in the new nest box, then quickly put the eggs under her as she wiggles in to settle them in the right place. I keep the light out of her face, and have it as dim as possible, or off, so she's not disturbed by the light and can't see her original nest. Once she's settled in the nestbox, I pick it up and slowly walk it to the new location. (Note: my broodies are very tame and get handled daily. This may not be as easy with a bird that never gets touched.) Typically this can be done without the broody breaking her "trance," which keeps her on the nest. When she can see where she is in the morning she will have been on the new nest for 6-10 hours already, and hopefully will accept the new location. If not, make the location darker (build a large wire cage over the nestbox and put a sheet over it) and hopefully she will settle down.

If you decide to move her and her eggs in separate trips, I would move the eggs first. Warm up a ceramic or other non-hatching egg to body temp (you can leave it in an oven set at 100 degrees for several hours, or any number of other options). Put the "egg" in a small basket with heat packs of the same temp (not too hot, very important). Go to her nest, take out the real eggs and put them in the warm basket, then put the warm fake egg under her to keep her from getting too upset. Then take the real eggs to the new nest, and leave them there with something warm, like a towel covering them. It's ok if they get a little cool for a short time, but not freezing cold for a long time. Again, you don't want to use anything too hot, as that could kill the embryo. After 10-20 minutes, to give broody time to settle down after the nest has been handled, go get broody and put her in the new nest. In these circumstances, where you're putting a broody into a nest of viable eggs, I have found it best to have the room dark, and a flashlight shined directly on the eggs from about 1-2 feet away. As she approaches the eggs, be sure to move the light as needed to keep it from shining directly into her eyes. Once she hovers over the eggs you can redirect the light onto a nearby wall until she is fully settled into a secure, predator proof enclosure.

If laying hens have access to broody nests, it is very important to mark each egg that the broody started with. Use a pencil or non-toxic marker to draw a circle around the entire middle of the egg so that it can be seen no matter what position the egg is in. That way you can keep track of which eggs are the originals, and remove any new eggs from other hens. The new eggs, if laid more than two days after the start of the brood, won't hatch in time to be part of the clutch, so there's little benefit in brooding them unless you want to finish them in an incubator. But if she gets too many eggs (6-8 for a first time broody, 10-16 for an experienced broody, depending on her size) she may not be able to rotate or cover the eggs properly, and some embryos may die. The eggs get rotated from the center to the periphery regularly, so all may take their turn getting cold. Too many eggs can end up with a smaller hatch than you'd have gotten if you'd stuck with just a few eggs, or sometimes a complete loss.

Perfect answer! I have a baseball cap with lights in it that I use when I have to handle chickens at night (also good for counting at bedtime and locking the coop up). Got it at Lowes, it is supposed to be for fishing I think. It keeps my hands free, no problems with dropping it! I take it off if I need to point it somewhere that I'm not looking. It is bright though, so use caution on a broody.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Perfect answer! I have a baseball cap with lights in it that I use when I have to handle chickens at night (also good for counting at bedtime and locking the coop up). Got it at Lowes, it is supposed to be for fishing I think. It keeps my hands free, no problems with dropping it! I take it off if I need to point it somewhere that I'm not looking. It is bright though, so use caution on a broody.

Yes, headlamps can be invaluable, but are usually very bright. My husband has one and he keeps shining it in my eyes. You can get them that have a method of dimming the light, or one that has a UV setting, which is a slightly dim light in a certain frequency. I have one that has a red light on it, which is perfect for working with animals in the dark. You can also just attach red plastic or glass to a white light to get the same effect. But if you move her eggs first and then need to show her where they are, she'll need regular white light to see them clearly, shined closely on the eggs, not in her eyes.

 

[bumpercarr]

Yes, headlamps can be invaluable, but are usually very bright. My husband has one and he keeps shining it in my eyes. You can get them that have a method of dimming the light, or one that has a UV setting, which is a slightly dim light in a certain frequency. I have one that has a red light on it, which is perfect for working with animals in the dark. You can also just attach red plastic or glass to a white light to get the same effect. But if you move her eggs first and then need to show her where they are, she'll need regular white light to see them clearly, shined closely on the eggs, not in her eyes.

This one isn't quite as bright as a headlamp, it only has 2 leds instead of the 4 that my headlamp has. The lights are actually built into the bill on the cap. They are still pretty bright though, so I try not to shine it in anyone's eyes.

 

[DelaneyFarm]

Wow, that was awesome information! Thank you for taking the time to write it all out! I learned a lot. We decided to put a bottomless coop right over the grassy area she chose for her brood. We had the option, and it seemed the easiest not to disturb her. It is one of the more odd things I've done with chickens, for sure. We've never kept a rooster before, unless they were meat birds, so this is all new. And Sooooo cool. The egg we candled today, just to look, the chick inside was moving around, a lot! It was really neat to see! Thanks again. Hopefully we'll be reporting back with new chicks in a couple days to a week.

 

[DelaneyFarm]

walmart sells a headlamp with elastic straps that has two settings, dim and bright. I have one, they're very handy

 

[bumpercarr]

I have a question about breaking a brood. Once you've broken them, how long does it usually take for them to start laying again?

 

[ChickyChickens]

I woke up this morning to 8 chicks, one egg pipping, one egg cheeping inside the egg and the other is still quite!
My broody looks so proud of herself!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Wow, that was awesome information! Thank you for taking the time to write it all out! I learned a lot. We decided to put a bottomless coop right over the grassy area she chose for her brood. We had the option, and it seemed the easiest not to disturb her. It is one of the more odd things I've done with chickens, for sure. We've never kept a rooster before, unless they were meat birds, so this is all new. And Sooooo cool. The egg we candled today, just to look, the chick inside was moving around, a lot! It was really neat to see! Thanks again. Hopefully we'll be reporting back with new chicks in a couple days to a week.

Bottomless pens work very well in some locations. (I've never had that as an easy option, as mine always make their nest in an area with lots of landscaping around it.) When using a bottomless pen to protect from predators, be sure to modify it as needed to protect from the predators in your area. The wire must be strong enough to keep out a very patient predator with nothing else to do in the middle of the night. The openings must be small enough to prevent a raccoon from reaching in and killing a bird -- they don't have to get their entire body in, just their hand. I like using 1/2 inch hardware cloth over 2X4" welded wire. The entire pen needs to have wire openings small enough to prevent ferrets or mink from getting through, including the top, if these are in your area. Dogs, coyotes, wolves, foxes, etc, like to dig under, push over, and smash cages. You can prevent digging by attaching some horizontal welded wire on the ground, all around and attached to the pen. Diggers will dig into the wire and be stopped. They don't know that they just have to back up 2 feet before they start digging. You can use sturdy ground staples to prevent the cage from being tipped over, anchored by tent stakes, and can put the cage over a simple wooden frame inside of the wire to prevent it from being smashed. Also, the fasteners on the door, if one exists, need to be the type that cannot be opened by raccoons or other predators with hands or teeth.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have a question about breaking a brood. Once you've broken them, how long does it usually take for them to start laying again?

The last time I broke the brood in one of my Dorkings, she was laying again in 2 weeks. I was quite surprised that it was so quick, and am not sure that it was typical. I'm sure that it depends on how long they've been brooding before you break them, what breed they are, whether it's early or late in the laying season, etc. But I would think it would always be sooner than if they were to hatch out a clutch, since they don't have to raise the chicks.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I woke up this morning to 8 chicks, one egg pipping, one egg cheeping inside the egg and the other is still quite!
My broody looks so proud of herself!

Congratulations! They must be soooo cute.