Overdue Broody

[Regaj]

First time broody here (both her and me). I decided to let her (and nature) take its course. Bless her heart. She has worked so hard sitting on that nest! Only coming off once a day for a little break, then back to it.

By my reckoning, it's been close to 28 days. It's hard to pin down exactly, because first there were three eggs; then four; then five; and now six. The latter couple haven't hit 21 days, but certainly the earlier ones have.

At this point I'm thinking perhaps my rooster isn't able to produce fertilized eggs, and so the eggs aren't destined to hatch? I dunno. I tried "candling" a couple of the eggs a few days ago when she was taking her daily break, but found that shining a small light on an egg during the afternoon light doesn't work real well. Could not tell a thing.

My biggest concern is the health of Marianne, my hen. I know having a broody sit on the next is hard on them... and I'm guessing I may have to intervene here.

Thoughts? Advice?

 

[SmiYa0126]

First time broody here (both her and me). I decided to let her (and nature) take its course. Bless her heart. She has worked so hard sitting on that nest! Only coming off once a day for a little break, then back to it.

By my reckoning, it's been close to 28 days. It's hard to pin down exactly, because first there were three eggs; then four; then five; and now six. The latter couple haven't hit 21 days, but certainly the earlier ones have.

At this point I'm thinking perhaps my rooster isn't able to produce fertilized eggs, and so the eggs aren't destined to hatch? I dunno. I tried "candling" a couple of the eggs a few days ago when she was taking her daily break, but found that shining a small light on an egg during the afternoon light doesn't work real well. Could not tell a thing.

My biggest concern is the health of Marianne, my hen. I know having a broody sit on the next is hard on them... and I'm guessing I may have to intervene here.

Thoughts? Advice?

Hi! Can you candle the eggs at night so you can see if they're alive? You'll need to break her, put her in a small wire cage with a fan blowing on her so that you lower her body temperature.

 

[BGcoop]

Snatch an egg and go candle it in a dark room to see if there is development.

If the eggs are not developing yes you can either try breaking her with a wire cage or you can see if you can find a place that is still selling baby chicks and stick them under her at night…ta-da! She hatched the eggs, now she can leave the nest! (Ok mine didn’t actually leave the nest for another 24 hours after I stuck the babies under her but the next day she had those babies roaming the yard scratching things up)

 

[Regaj]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Today, while she was taking her daily break I took the opportunity to select three eggs from her clutch, walk them inside the house and back to a dark room, and again try candling.

These are white eggs (White Leghorn) and one had a shell which was simply too opaque (and probably new... there now being a seventh egg in the clutch) to see through. The other two were translucent enough that I could see a little bit inside, but honestly I don't know what I'm looking for. Holding the egg with the small end down and placed over the light, I could see where the fluid inside ended (up near the top, near the big end of the egg), but I didn't see anything that looked like an embryo. Both eggs had an orangish color coming from the inside, but I couldn't divine much else.

Before intervening, would it be wise to sacrifice one of the eggs and break it open to get a better picture of what might be going on?

And if intervention becomes necessary, simply putting her in a puppy cage (with food and water) for a couple days is the thing to do?

My bias with most this stuff is to first "do no harm," letting them sort things out naturally wherever possible. If I need to intervene, I will. But if I don't, will she come off the nest by herself?

 

[MountainWoman73]

Hard to tell without pictures, but the orangish color coming from inside sounds like a clear unfertilized egg, or a dead egg where blood vessels have dissolved. If they are close to hatch it will look really dark all the way through, like black, except for the air sac. If it looks like it's sloshing around or there's a reddish blackish ring around it, it's dead. You can Google pictures and videos of people candling their eggs.

I would immediately remove any that are way past the 21 day mark, if you can determine which ones those are. Then I would either get 2-3 chicks and switch them for her eggs at night, or take the eggs away and put her in a broody cage. She can always try again later. She won't necessarily know on her own when it's time to give up. Some might quit after 30 or 40 days, but most broodies will continue to sit way past what's healthy for them.

 

[aart]

My bias with most this stuff is to first "do no harm," letting them sort things out naturally wherever possible.

Yeah, not a great idea, they do need some management.

It's hard to pin down exactly, because first there were three eggs; then four; then five; and now six. The latter couple haven't hit 21 days, but certainly the earlier ones have.

Mark the eggs you want to hatch and put them under her all at the same time. Then you need to remove any freshly laid eggs daily after the 21 days count down starts.

And if intervention becomes necessary, simply putting her in a puppy cage (with food and water) for a couple days is the thing to do?

This is how I break the broodiness:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/