Put an egg under a broody Sebright... need a bit of advice :)

[Cerise1924]

Hello, BYC friends!

I've done well with incubating shipped eggs, and have a half-dozen in the incubator now (Cuckoo Lemon Orps, Jubilee Orp and Crested Cream Legbars). However, I noticed that my Sebright has been broody over a clutch of (infertile) eggs, mostly LF from her flockmates. She's been in there doggedly sitting for three days, while her friends are out free-ranging.

I've heard that Sebrights aren't good brooders, but I took a chance and put a CCL egg under her, and removed a few of the infertile eggs, so she wouldn't have too many to cover. She seems to be fine with the switch. I've never had a broody hatch for me before, so I am wondering:

-Do I let her continue to sit on the infertile eggs for the full 21 days?
-At what point might it be good to swap out more infertiles for viable eggs? At this point, I don't fully trust her to follow through, and I don't want to lose my developing chicks.
-Would it be advisable to move newly-hatched and dried off chicks from the incubator to under this little Sebright in two weeks, whether she has hatched one herself or not? Would she be likely to accept them and raise them?
-She's in a pretty high up nest box, next to another box that the LF are using (Brahma, EE, Marans, Red Sex-Links). Should she actually hatch out a chick, will I need to move them to a separate coop for protection? I do have an unused small coop on the floor of the shared run that they could have. Or, I have a completely separate coop and run that are empty, now.

Thanks for any advice. Hatching/raising with a broody is new to me.

 

[sylviethecochin]

-Do I let her continue to sit on the infertile eggs for the full 21 days?
If you're sure that they aren't going to go rotten, you might. I know I've found hidden nests older than that and the eggs were still edible. But it's probably better just to remove them. Possibly replace them with something non-perishable. I like golf-balls.

-At what point might it be good to swap out more infertiles for viable eggs? At this point, I don't fully trust her to follow through, and I don't want to lose my developing chicks.
Staggered hatches are bad. If all of the eggs are due to hatch on the same day, just slip them out of the incubator and under her at any point between now and hatch. Even just a day before hatch is fine. Just do it quietly and in the dark. (Most people just wait a week after beginning to set with a new broody, but since you're incubating anyway...)

-Would it be advisable to move newly-hatched and dried off chicks from the incubator to under this little Sebright in two weeks, whether she has hatched one herself or not? Would she be likely to accept them and raise them?
She should. Some hens do reject chicks, but in my experience, most can't tell. (at least right at hatch. By day two, they tend to know exactly who their babies are.) Do it in the dark, and preferably at night.

-She's in a pretty high up nest box, next to another box that the LF are using (Brahma, EE, Marans, Red Sex-Links). Should she actually hatch out a chick, will I need to move them to a separate coop for protection? I do have an unused small coop on the floor of the shared run that they could have. Or, I have a completely separate coop and run that are empty, now.
I'd be more worried about now than about when the chicks hatch. Other hens are magically attracted to lay new eggs in the broody nest. They tend to end up fighting with the broody and squashing eggs, potentially ending her brooding.

If you can quietly move her to the separate coop and run, just leaving her in the dark for a few days after the move, she may continue setting on the nest. Or she might abandon it completely. I think your best strategy might be to partially block off the opening to the nestbox so that little sebright can get in and out of it, and the larger hens can't.

In my experience, hens leave the actual chicks alone unless they're in their way. Your flock may differ. I would put up a short wall (maybe three-four inches) in front of the nest box so that the chicks can't fall out and be separated from mama.

 

[Cerise1924]

Thank you, @sylviethecochin ! This is good and detailed advice. I really appreciate your time. I don't have golf balls, but I'll see if I can pick some up. All the eggs are due on the 18th, so it's good to know that I can slip them under my Sebright even the day before hatch.

Even though she's a really mellow girl, I'll take your advice and do any additional egg meddling after dark. I'll also see about putting in some kind of partial barricade that will keep the LF out, but I'm not sure how I can do that quietly and without disturbing little Firefly. I don't want to start hammering and nailing! Maybe I can find a roll of wire, or some cardboard and just set something in place?

One follow-up question: if I do give chicks to my little Sebright to raise, are they likely to be as friendly as if I raised them? Firefly was a sole hatchling, and I raised her in the house for the first five weeks. She will still fly up and sit on my shoulder. Will she teach the chicks to be comfortable around me, or are hen-raised chicks always less sociable than human-raised ones?

Thanks!!

-Cerise

 

[sylviethecochin]

Thank you, @sylviethecochin ! This is good and detailed advice. I really appreciate your time. I don't have golf balls, but I'll see if I can pick some up. All the eggs are due on the 18th, so it's good to know that I can slip them under my Sebright even the day before hatch.

Even though she's a really mellow girl, I'll take your advice and do any additional egg meddling after dark. I'll also see about putting in some kind of partial barricade that will keep the LF out, but I'm not sure how I can do that quietly and without disturbing little Firefly. I don't want to start hammering and nailing! Maybe I can find a roll of wire, or some cardboard and just set something in place?

One follow-up question: if I do give chicks to my little Sebright to raise, are they likely to be as friendly as if I raised them? Firefly was a sole hatchling, and I raised her in the house for the first five weeks. She will still fly up and sit on my shoulder. Will she teach the chicks to be comfortable around me, or are hen-raised chicks always less sociable than human-raised ones?

Thanks!!

-Cerise

You're welcome!

To partially block off the nest box, I would use glue and some scrap wood. Then at the end of it, I would just tear it off.

I don't know about how friendly they're likely to be, though. Mine aren't, but their parents aren't really friendly either.