Please help me decide if I should let my hen hatch chicks.

[citychicks99]

I think my 3-year-old RIR, Jack, is broody to my surprise. I went on vacation for a week and when I came back I found her sitting on 8 eggs, 4 of which are hers, 4 belong to another hen she shares her coop with sometimes.

I'm hesitating to let her hatch chicks because a few weeks ago she was having trouble laying eggs as they were soft shell eggs. I mixed rooster booster in her feed and she started laying again. That makes me think her health may be at risk if I let her sit on eggs for 3 weeks, knowing how taxing it is on a hen to hatch chicks. I think she also may have some sort of genetic defect that caused her to be half the size of her peers and curled toes, so that makes me think maybe her chicks might not come to be very healthy. My other hens who seem healthier and who have hatched chicks didn't have a high hatch rate. One of them laid 13 eggs and only 5 hatched. Last summer, two hens laid 15 eggs, 3 were eaten I think, they hatched 4 and I brought the rest inside since it was a staggered hatch and I hatched 2. So the hatch rate has been less than 50%, and since Jack only has 8 eggs, that makes me think maybe only 1-3 may hatch, if any.

The two reasons I'm thinking of letting her hatch chicks is because she's my favorite and I'd love to have more of her, and she gets bullied by the other hens, so I think it'd be good for her to have her own flock, but for the reasons I shared above, it's making me unsure and questioning if it's worth the risk.

Am I overthinking this or would I be risking her health based on what I said?

Update: I got her off her nest and almost all the eggs have poo on them so I think they wouldn't be viable any way. I've decided to break her from her broodiness.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Can you tell which eggs are hers? If it were my hen, I would remove her eggs since, as you said, her chicks may have genetic problems. But I might let her hatch the eggs of other hens that seem to be healthy. She might not throw healthy babies but she still might make a good mother in terms of broodiness and parenting. I'd let her try, but have an incubator on standby, which is just a good policy in any case. Good luck!

 

[citychicks99]

Can you tell which eggs are hers? If it wee my hen, I would remove her eggs since, as you said, her chicks may have genetic problems. But I might let her hatch the eggs of other hens that seem to be healthy. She might not throw healthy babies but she still might make a good mother in terms of broodiness and parenting. I'd let her try, but have an incubator on standby, which is just a good policy in any case. Good luck!

I can tell which are hers but I don't like the breed of the other hen because they're very flighty. I've been thinking of getting a new breed of chicks but am unsure. I think she would be a sweet mommy though.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hmm. Can you get eggs from a friend or neighbor that has a breed you like? I don't think you'd be risking her health. But I think you'd be risking getting poor quality chicks to let her hatch her own eggs, which could be heart-breaking for you. How many hens does your rooster cover? Maybe he's just not very fertile.

 

[citychicks99]

Hmm. Can you get eggs from a friend or neighbor that has a breed you like? I don't think you'd be risking her health. But I think you'd be risking getting poor quality chicks to let her hatch her own eggs, which could be heart-breaking for you. How many hens does your rooster cover? Maybe he's just not very fertile.

I don't know of anyone else with chickens so I'd have to buy them. I never considered he may not be very fertile. With our first broody hen, it was just him and 3 hens. With our second hatch he had 6 hens but we had another rooster around at the time.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yes, buying eggs is an option.

 

[Mamagirl3]

I have always been told my rooster is very fertile because he has blood red streaks from his toes up his entire legs! Haha what i was told is those red streaks up the legs of roosters is the sign of fertility. Since i learned this i always look at the legs of any rooster i see. And for the first time ever i can see that difference in roosters! Haha
Another thing is we had a rooster before this one that did not get in the proper position to line up with the hen half the time. He would be too far up on her and would be almost above her tail feathers instead of lower near the vent. Consequently eggs were not getting fertilized very well. Might watch his 'technique' to make sure he is getting eggs fertilized properly. You definitely dont have too many hens for him!!
If you candle your eggs in a few days you will see the blood vessel network or see nothing. You will know then how many are fertile and can remove the ones that are not. Should help your anxiety to cull early and not be waiting on 8 when only 3 are fertile.
Good luck!

 

[LaFleche]

Considering her own health issues and her genetics I would not let her sit for three weeks nor hatch her or any other eggs.

As you say she is your favourite and with her impaired health she might not survive the experiment.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

You could try grafting some day old chicks to her, then you could pick the breed and even get sexed chicks if you wanted.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It purely depends on your goals, wants, and desires. It is your flock, not mine. My goals do not count, only yours.

Many of us want a healthy flock that provides eggs and maybe meat. Some only want pets. Some people seem to enjoy the drama of soft-shelled eggs and "not-normal" chickens like curled toes. Personally I would not hatch her eggs but if you want more like her you can certainly try.

You have been given several options. I don't know if any of them will threaten her health or life or not. Again, that has to be your choice. Anything you do going forward has some kind of risk involved, even if you do nothing or break her from being broody. That is just the way life is. I do not know how much risk is involved in any of your choices.