Question about Broody Hen- Second Round

[cyn2008]

I have a broody who's eggs didn't hatch for various reasons, but she is insistent on stealing everyone else's eggs. How safe is it to give her some new eggs and let her hatch them out since she just finished sitting?

 

[akashia26]

just a suggestion. BUT!!!!! go to the feed store buy a few chicks and tonight after dark slip them under her. place chick feed and water close to the nest. she might set the nest for a day or 2 but she will most likely take the chicks and raise them after a day or 2. you might have to throw away a couple of eggs she starts in that first day or 2 but it's my opinion that the hen that i have's health is more important than a few eggs that she may or may not be able to set to term. this way you get chicks, she thinks she did a good job and hatched chicks, she will break the nest and feed herself and the chicks, and everyone's happy. but thats just what i would do.

 

[cyn2008]

I would do that, and thought about it, but I live in Texas... the heat prevents most Feed Stores from selling chicks after about the beginning of April.

So, there aren't any young chicks readily available to me at this time.

 

[akashia26]

then set her in a small cage with no bedding, food, water, and a young rooster. give it 2 days. if she goes back to trying to set stick her back in the box with the roo. rinse and repeat till she stops trying to set for a week or 2.

 

[amillecay]

I have close to the same question i have a hen that went broody and a snake ate the eggs a day before they hatched is it ok to let her sit on another clutch of eggs?

 

[akashia26]

the problem is nutrition, muscle mass, and bone density. think about sitting infront of your tv 24 hours a day for 21. you get up once a day to use the bathroom, eat (what the rest of the family has left as leftovers), drink something and streach your legs. you get about 30 min to do all this then you sit back down.

a chicken is built to do this for about 25 days then spend 6 weeks with chicks and 1 to 2 weeks laying before setting another clutch. many will set till they can't set any longer then break the nest and try again later after they have their health back. them setting for 42+ days is a streach. she may be able to set that long, but to me that is asking a bit much. she may try and then decide she can't and you are stuck with eggs that are half way through and a weak hen. when this has happened to me, i have made the call and forced her to break the nest. sometimes just sticking them in a box with no nesting material will do it, but if you add a roo he will breed her every time she gets still. it doesn't take long for her to decide that setting isn't for her for a while and give up for a few weeks.

 

[amillecay]

Yeah I didn't think it would be a good idea my mum says go ahead and do it but i felt like it would be a bit much she has now been on the eggs for about a week but i really don't think it's a good idea to go through with it. should I do it or break her before she goes any farther?

 

[akashia26]

well if she's been a week i'd let her go. she might stick to the nest. i'd suggest having a bater ready if she gives it up. or follow my first suggestion and get 2 or 3 chicks at the local farm supply and slip them to her at night. your call.

 

[amillecay]

Ok i don't have a bater... and the hatcheries around me don't have chicks anymore...

 

[akashia26]

styrofoam ice chest ($5 wal-mart), the cord from an old lamp (plug on one end light socket on the other. $2 thrift store),or drop light ($10 hardware store), florescent lightbulb ($2 or $3), and a few old coffee cups (probably free) of water and a thermometer. want to add a few bells and whistles? $10 hydrometer/therometer wal-mart, glass from an old clock or picture frame in top (free). grate in bottom hardware cloth with a few bolts to hold it off the bottom. free to $5 depending on what you have laying around. pie pan for water under grate free to $2.

mine is the ice chest $5 with lamp and bulb $2, grate, hydrometer/thermometer $10, 4 peanut butter lids, old clock glass for view port. total cost to me was $17. had the rest of the stuff. it's not perfect but it works.