Please help my broody hen

[Chelsea-85]

Dears all,

This is my first time I have a broody pullet that is young and seems inexperienced. After I was sure that she is broody, I put 9 eggs under her 6 days ago. She does not leave the eggs but she has the following problems:

1- Yesterday, when she came out for few minutes, I saw two eggs BROKEN under her. I cleaned the bedding completely while she was eating. What is the cause of the broken eggs? Do you think she intentionally broke them? Or it was an accident? I am concerned about it.
2-Two days ago, when I checked her, I saw 5 eggs not under her. I touched them, they were cold and put them back under her; she accepted them again. (Is there any chance for those 4 eggs to survive? I don't know how long they were not under her though)
3- She has pooped over the eggs. I found the eggs all poopy. Will they be hatched? Or poopy eggs will fail? Should I clean the eggs or leave them as they are?
4- Since she pooped while sitting, her butt is poopy as well. Yesterday I cleaned her and dried her completely before she went back to the eggs. Did I do the right thing by cleaning her?

Thank you in advance for your help

 

[Chelsea-85]

Any help please?

 

[Ribh]

Dears all,

This is my first time I have a broody pullet that is young and seems inexperienced. After I was sure that she is broody, I put 9 eggs under her 6 days ago. She does not leave the eggs but she has the following problems:

1- Yesterday, when she came out for few minutes, I saw two eggs BROKEN under her. I cleaned the bedding completely while she was eating. What is the cause of the broken eggs? Do you think she intentionally broke them? Or it was an accident? I am concerned about it.
2-Two days ago, when I checked her, I saw 5 eggs not under her. I touched them, they were cold and put them back under her; she accepted them again. (Is there any chance for those 4 eggs to survive? I don't know how long they were not under her though)
3- She has pooped over the eggs. I found the eggs all poopy. Will they be hatched? Or poopy eggs will fail? Should I clean the eggs or leave them as they are?
4- Since she pooped while sitting, her butt is poopy as well. Yesterday I cleaned her and dried her completely before she went back to the eggs. Did I do the right thing by cleaning her?

Thank you in advance for your help

Sorry I can't help. You may need to wait for the time difference to catch up & the more experienced broody hatchers to arrive. thinks she's fine but I've never hatched eggs.

 

[Brahmachicken240]

1) broken eggs were most likely an accident, she probably stepped on them when trying to get out.

2) depends on how long they were out from under her.
I’d say they’d be fine.
How cold/hot is it where you are ?

3) it can have a negative impact on the viability of the eggs.
clean the nest if you can, is their much poop on the eggs ?
If it’s only a little smear of poop, I wouldn’t worry.

4) yes!

What is your set up like ?
It’s important to have her food and water a good distance away from her nest so she must leave her nesting site to go get food and water.

 

[Chelsea-85]

Sorry I can't help. You may need to wait for the time difference to catch up & the more experienced broody hatchers to arrive. thinks she's fine but I've never hatched eggs.

Thank you dear anyway.

 

[Chelsea-85]

1) broken eggs were most likely an accident, she probably stepped on them when trying to get out.

2) depends on how long they were out from under her.
I’d say they’d be fine.
How cold/hot is it where you are ?

3) it can have a negative impact on the viability of the eggs.
clean the nest if you can, is their much poop on the eggs ?
If it’s only a little smear of poop, I wouldn’t worry.

4) yes!

What is your set up like ?
It’s important to have her food and water a good distance away from her nest so she must leave her nesting site to go get food and water.

Dear, I don't know how long they were out, weather here is cold but not freezing, at night it reaches zero sometimes.
I cleaned the nest and changed the bedding, I cleaned the eggs as much as I could but still they are dirty.

She has another problem, she has difficulty in walking, she walks but very difficultly

 

[Chelsea-85]

And I have a small coop, she sits on the eggs in a small box inside the small coop where food and water are placed half meter away

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

I agree with everything @Brahmachicken240 said.

I will add that it sounds like your pullet is having a hard time of brooding and might not be well suited to hatching eggs in the future. Breaking eggs, pooping on the nest and letting eggs roll out of reach are all bad signs for a mother hen and each one in turn reduces the chances of a successful hatch. It may be that the next time she goes broody in the future she will be better, but on this occasion the chances for your eggs to hatch are definitely reduced I'm afraid. However just because a chicken is not great at brooding, does not mean she won't make an excellent mother.

If I were you I would candle all the remaining eggs after removing any serious poop on them. Return any that shows signs of life and then keep as close an eye on the chicken as possible.

You can help her by removing her from the nest yourself once a day around the same time and make sure she poops and eats before returning to the nest. This way you are sure she is pooping outside the nest and is less likely to accidentally poop inside the nest.
You can also look at the bedding material in the nest and try to arrange it in more of a concave typical 'birds nest' shape so that the eggs cannot roll away from under the pullet. Make sure there is plenty of bedding like straw or wood shavings to cushion the eggs to reduce the chances of them bring broken.

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

The trouble walking that you mentioned - has she always been that way or is it a problem since she has gone broody?

 

[Chelsea-85]

I agree with everything @Brahmachicken240 said.

I will add that it sounds like your pullet is having a hard time of brooding and might not be well suited to hatching eggs in the future. Breaking eggs, pooping on the nest and letting eggs roll out of reach are all bad signs for a mother hen and each one in turn reduces the chances of a successful hatch. It may be that the next time she goes broody in the future she will be better, but on this occasion the chances for your eggs to hatch are definitely reduced I'm afraid. However just because a chicken is not great at brooding, does not mean she won't make an excellent mother.

If I were you I would candle all the remaining eggs after removing any serious poop on them. Return any that shows signs of life and then keep as close an eye on the chicken as possible.

You can help her by removing her from the nest yourself once a day around the same time and make sure she poops and eats before returning to the nest. This way you are sure she is pooping outside the nest and is less likely to accidentally poop inside the nest.
You can also look at the bedding material in the nest and try to arrange it in more of a concave typical 'birds nest' shape so that the eggs cannot roll away from under the pullet. Make sure there is plenty of bedding like straw or wood shavings to cushion the eggs to reduce the chances of them bring broken.

Thank you very much for your beautiful comment. You are right and I agree with you. Tomorrow will be day 7; I will candle them and do what you just said. I take her out every evening but I don't know why she pooped inside. I have also done about the bedding material, now the bedding looks fine and the eggs will not be rolled away. Thank you again.

What about her leg problem? She cannot walk properly like before. Maybe it is due to malnutrition? She is too young; she is only 5 months old.