Possible hatchlings?? Help! Advice?!

[NatJ]

I had no idea to separate them, this is my first time with broody hens and fertilized eggs!

One of the main reasons to separate broody hens is so the other hens cannot lay eggs in their nest.

Sometimes the eggs get broken as hens fuss over who gets to lay in it.

Sometimes the broody gets off, someone else sits on her nest, and the broody starts sitting on another nest-- then her eggs get cold when the layer is done.

But the most common problem is just from eggs being added to the nest each day: unless you are careful to take out the new eggs, they start developing too. Then the first chicks hatch, the hen comes off the nest to take care of them, and the eggs that are not yet ready to hatch are left cold and abandoned.

If everything seems fine, and if you check each day to remove the new eggs, then it's probably fine to leave the hens where they are. You can use a pencil or crayon to mark the eggs that are supposed to hatch, to make it easy to recognize the new ones.

At night, Big Momma has 3 other hens that sleep in the coop she’s in total 4). Lil’ silkie momma is in a large coop with 11 others at night. Are they both okay to stay in their coops or should I move them? They seem to be doing okay but I want to be on the safe side.

If you try to move a broody hen, sometimes she will leave the eggs and try to go back to her old nest. If they seem fine now, I would probably just leave them.

In future, if a hen goes broody, you can try to move her before you give her eggs to hatch. Just let her have some fake eggs to sit on for a few days, until you know she's settled in the new place, and then give her the real ones to hatch. That way if she refuses to move, the only eggs getting cold are fake ones. (Only if a hen needs moving, of course. No reason to bother her if she's sitting in a good place.)

 

[Weeg]

I had no idea to separate them, this is my first time with broody hens and fertilized eggs!

as luck would have it, they are in two separate coops. At night, Big Momma has 3 other hens that sleep in the coop she’s in total 4). Lil’ silkie momma is in a large coop with 11 others at night. Are they both okay to stay in their coops or should I move them? They seem to be doing okay but I want to be on the safe side.

You don't actually have to move them out of the coop, and if the other hens are leaving them alone you may not have to worry about it at all, though its very likely other hens will try to lay in the nest, like @NatJ suggested above. What I usually do is use a pet gate to gate there area off so the others can't get to them. Pet or baby gates work best since they're mobile, its a see no touch so theres no need for reintroduction, and they're large so it gives the hen quite a bit of room. I've even used cardboard before as an immediate fix, but something more studier is preferred for the long run.

 

[Chicken poppy]

One of the main reasons to separate broody hens is so the other hens cannot lay eggs in their nest.

Sometimes the eggs get broken as hens fuss over who gets to lay in it.

Sometimes the broody gets off, someone else sits on her nest, and the broody starts sitting on another nest-- then her eggs get cold when the layer is done.

But the most common problem is just from eggs being added to the nest each day: unless you are careful to take out the new eggs, they start developing too. Then the first chicks hatch, the hen comes off the nest to take care of them, and the eggs that are not yet ready to hatch are left cold and abandoned.

If everything seems fine, and if you check each day to remove the new eggs, then it's probably fine to leave the hens where they are. You can use a pencil or crayon to mark the eggs that are supposed to hatch, to make it easy to recognize the new ones.


If you try to move a broody hen, sometimes she will leave the eggs and try to go back to her old nest. If they seem fine now, I would probably just leave them.

In future, if a hen goes broody, you can try to move her before you give her eggs to hatch. Just let her have some fake eggs to sit on for a few days, until you know she's settled in the new place, and then give her the real ones to hatch. That way if she refuses to move, the only eggs getting cold are fake ones. (Only if a hen needs moving, of course. No reason to bother her if she's sitting in a good place.)

Yep, i find ceramic and wooden ones (or easter eggs) work the best for that type of thing.

 

[Chicken poppy]

I had no idea to separate them, this is my first time with broody hens and fertilized eggs!

as luck would have it, they are in two separate coops. At night, Big Momma has 3 other hens that sleep in the coop she’s in total 4). Lil’ silkie momma is in a large coop with 11 others at night. Are they both okay to stay in their coops or should I move them? They seem to be doing okay but I want to be on the safe side.

Id leave them now, they seem fine

 

[Sassy-ChikN Mom]

Id leave them now, they seem fine

@NatJ @Weeg and @Chicken poppy

thank you all for the super helpful information. The coop that big momma is in has 3 other nesting boxes. Fortunately the other hens are using them when they lay.

In the larger coop where silkie momma is, there are 5 other nesting boxes. Again fortunately, out of the laying hens in that coop, only 1 other is laying.
Do I still need to put something up to block them? Do you think they get bothered at night?

thanks! All seems well right now.

so hatching is on or around day 21 right? Eggs were laid between 9/19-9/22. Assuming all goes well, We should start seeing chicks around Oct 9/10??

im sure I have a thousand more questions when time gets closer!

 

[NatJ]

Do you think they get bothered at night?

They are probably fine at night, because the other hens will be asleep on their roosts then.

so hatching is on or around day 21 right?

Yes.

Eggs were laid between 9/19-9/22. Assuming all goes well, We should start seeing chicks around Oct 9/10??

What matters is the day the eggs started getting incubated, not the day they were laid.
So if the first egg went under the hen on 9/19, then yes Oct 10 is about when to expect the first chick.

If you put each egg under the hen the day it was laid, you might have problems after the first chicks hatch: the hen will want to get off the nest to get food & water with the chicks, and the eggs that have not yet hatched will get cold.

You can use an incubator (put the later eggs in it to hatch), or a brooder (move the first babies to the brooder, so the hen can continue to sit on the other eggs.)

I've read of some people putting food and water right by the nest, so the hen and the first chicks can eat & drink while the later ones are still incubating and hatching, so that might also be an option.

Of course chick starter would be right for the chicks, and it is also fine for the hen to eat.

In future, if you can save up the eggs and give them all to the broody on the same day, you can mostly avoid issues with late chicks. (A hen would naturally lay an egg every day or so, but not start to set until she has a whole clutch. Then when she starts to sit on them, they all begin to develop, and they all hatch about the same time.)

 

[Chicken poppy]

@NatJ @Weeg and @Chicken poppy

thank you all for the super helpful information. The coop that big momma is in has 3 other nesting boxes. Fortunately the other hens are using them when they lay.

In the larger coop where silkie momma is, there are 5 other nesting boxes. Again fortunately, out of the laying hens in that coop, only 1 other is laying.
Do I still need to put something up to block them? Do you think they get bothered at night?

thanks! All seems well right now.

so hatching is on or around day 21 right? Eggs were laid between 9/19-9/22. Assuming all goes well, We should start seeing chicks around Oct 9/10??

im sure I have a thousand more questions when time gets closer!

No problem!

Yes, i would. I think that blocking it would be smart.

yes! Day 21 is 80% hatch rate. So you should be seeing it by oct 9. But it could be earlier or later, it depends!
and if you do id be happy to awnser! Best of luck and keep us updated!

 

[Weeg]

In the larger coop where silkie momma is, there are 5 other nesting boxes. Again fortunately, out of the laying hens in that coop, only 1 other is laying.
Do I still need to put something up to block them? Do you think they get bothered at night?

Probably not at night since the other hens will be roosting, like @NatJ mentioned.
Are you absolutely sure that she's not getting eggs laid in her nest? Even if its only one every other day it will cause issues. I would ar least mark all of the current eggs along with dates stating the start of incubation if you know that information.
Than, check in the morning to double check that there aren't any new eggs.
I had a bad experience with ducks trying to incubate eggs together, resulting in a lot of crushed and fully formed eggs, upset mother ducks and owners. Of course, drakes were in mix as well, but since then I always separate mothers just to be safe.
Heres the setup I used to separate my broody.

 

[-Flash-]

Keep us posted as well on yours! Do you know what you might be hatching?

I candled them today, day 17, out of the 24 only 2 where diff no-nos and one I'm not certain! That is incredible... for me at least!

 

[Chicken poppy]

I candled them today, day 17, out of the 24 only 2 where diff no-nos and one I'm not certain! That is incredible... for me at least!

It always is! Day 17 is egg-citing, once it gets to 19 or 20 itll make little cheeping sounds!