Question about a brooding hen.

[Arztwolf]

I have a Silky (age unknown, I do know she DID successfully hatch eggs for someone else) who is sitting a clutch of eggs right now. It has been about two weeks since she started. I know they have to leave the nest to eat/drink, but this one walks several laps around the coop before she goes back to her eggs! She makes a clucking sound while she does it, is this normal behavior? The only other hen I've had hatch out eggs was free range bird who did it in secret.

 

[mirandaleecon]

Sounds pretty normal. My hen who has gone broody a couple times will run a couple circles around the yard with her wings stretched out. Looks like she is doing her best airplane impression, I wish I could get it on film!
Just think, they are cooped up in a little nesting box for 23 hours a day, they have to get the most exercise/stretching/eating/pooping done in that one hour or so they are off the nest that they can. They are probably also a little kooky from sitting so long too, hence the goofy clucking.

Don't stress about it until she is off the nest for several hours (when it's cold, mine stay off all afternoon in the heat of summer), she knows what she is doing better than we do. Have a backup incubator ready, just in case she decides she is done with it and for some piece of mind. Leave the rest up to her.

 

[Arztwolf]

Sounds pretty normal. My hen who has gone broody a couple times will run a couple circles around the yard with her wings stretched out. Looks like she is doing her best airplane impression, I wish I could get it on film!
Just think, they are cooped up in a little nesting box for 23 hours a day, they have to get the most exercise/stretching/eating/pooping done in that one hour or so they are off the nest that they can. They are probably also a little kooky from sitting so long too, hence the goofy clucking.

Don't stress about it until she is off the nest for several hours (when it's cold, mine stay off all afternoon in the heat of summer), she knows what she is doing better than we do. Have a backup incubator ready, just in case she decides she is done with it and for some piece of mind. Leave the rest up to her.

I'm leaving it all to her, LOL. She's one of those "I will KILL you if you open the nest box hatch!" type of broodies.
I have never incubated eggs before, can you sort of Macgyver it with a heating pad and a box?

 

[mirandaleecon]

I'm leaving it all to her, LOL. She's one of those "I will KILL you if you open the nest box hatch!" type of broodies.
I have never incubated eggs before, can you sort of Macgyver it with a heating pad and a box?

People have been able to MacGyver all sorts of incubators out of all sorts of things. The trick is to find some way to regulate the temperature. If you only plan on using it for emergencies, you can do a test set up and see what temperature the heating pad will get the box up to. Then you can adjust from there, add/remove insulation, add a lightbulb/fan, add some ventilation. There are all sorts of things you can scavenge from your house to make an incubator...