setting fertile eggs under broody tonight-- need advice

[chickmamato7]

My broody Crevecoeur is getting some fertile eggs tonight, but I need to make a decision about relocating her outside the coop or leaving her be. She is very committed to some ceramic eggs right now and has been for over a week. I could not break her, so ordered some eggs which arrived today. She is currently in her favorite nesting box which sits 4' off the ground. There has been no squabbles over her nesting area, since I purchased another box to replace the one she's in.

The problem is that she refuses to come out of the box even to eat or drink. There is no evidence that she has been pooping, either. I have been placing a food bowl with nutri-drench & very soupy mush where she can reach it, and she has been eating that way. I have to physically remove her from the nest box after the other hens are locked away to get her to poop. This hasn't been easy, since she fights me and the box has a small entry that is difficult to pull her out of. Once I put eggs in there, I'm afraid it could lead to breakage. To complicate things further, I am leaving for a 7-day vacation to Fla next week to celebrate being fully vaccinated. My son, who has never even held a chicken, will be caring for my girls. I don't think he could handle removing her from the box every night.

So, I'm thinking of moving her out of the coop into the garage before I slip the eggs in tonight. I thought maybe she would feel safer coming off the nest on her own without the flock around (she is lowest in the pecking order). I could make her a nice nest with easier access should she still need to be removed from the nest each night.

Does this seem like the right thing to do, given my circumstances, or should I just slip the eggs in where she is tonight and monitor her for a few days to see if things improve?

 

[natalie327]

Ooh that’s tough. You’d be gambling by moving her to a new location right at the same time you set the eggs. Could you experiment and move her first, observe for a day or two, and then set the eggs if she takes to the new location fine? Perhaps it’s too late and you’ve already set the eggs this evening... let us know the progress!

I have a hen who recently hatched her 3rd clutch of eggs (I also provide her fertile eggs when she goes broody). I also do the routine of taking her off to stretch, eat, poop, and groom herself while she’s sitting on the eggs. I usually do it in the morning and again in the late afternoon. Although she has access to the yard, I have only ONE time caught her off the eggs and taking a break on her own— it was such a relief to see! Other members had told me the broodies hate to be seen and are very sneaky about their daytime breaks off the eggs, but that they do as needed. I now believe it’s true

 

[chickmamato7]

I set up the garage to move her and then changed my mind last minute and left her alone. My gut just told me not to do it. She accepted the eggs right away and ate a whole bunch of food shortly after!

I agree that she must be sneaking out, because I think she would be dead by now if she were only getting out with my assistance. I have a cam and regularly check on her, but have never see her out of the box or any evidence (broody poop) that she is managing on her own.

I guess the true test will come next week when I'm away. I'm going to keep taking her out once a day until then, and hopefully she will decide to do it on her own when I'm gone.

One question: should I remove the ceramic egg now that she has 4 fertile eggs, or just leave it? I don't want to stress her, so if it doesn't matter, than I let her keep it.

 

[natalie327]

Yay, glad she happily accepted the eggs! Isn’t that amazing to witness? Mine has always been so eager to accept the new eggs too . That’s great you decided to leave her where she’s been comfortable. I would bet it’s for the best. You’re right, if she’s been managing for over a week, she probably knows what she’s doing (along with your assistance which makes things easier for her). I have never left a golf ball under my broody, but also I’ve gotten her 7-8 eggs each clutch and I feel there’s not enough room under her to accommodate anything more and also allow her to properly incubate all the eggs. My guess is with just 4 eggs, it wouldn’t matter you also leave one fake one under her. I also doubt she’d care at this stage if you removed it, as I’ve removed a stinky (rotten) egg at like day 19 and my hen didn’t seem to notice.
Are you going to “train” your son to relieve your broody gal while you’re on your trip? I’m curious!

 

[chickmamato7]

To my relief, she was out with the flock this morning, so I don't think I will need to train my son anymore. I think she may have been a little dehydrated or weak from lack of food, so I cooked her some eggs & added Nuti-drench, probiotics & molasses. I saw her eating it in the dark from the cam.

This morning she was running around and smelling up the coop, so I'm confident that she can take care of herself now. She looked so normal that I thought maybe she had abandoned the eggs, but she went right back to the nest box once she was done.

I'm so relieved and excited to be able to vacation without worry and daily micro-management. Phew, cuz my son is not a chicken lover! I've been training him over a period of weeks and typed up detailed instructions for the daily care routines. He's barely agreeable as it is, so I don't need any big complications like a broody hen who needs help pooping!

 

[neo71665]

I always remove my broody hens from the rest of the flock. I've had issues with the other chooks killing the new chicks when left in there.

 

[natalie327]

Cheers to her taking breaks on her own and also to your relief so you can vacation in peace! That’s awesome!

I’ve asked a roommate to pick up my broody hen to relieve her before and, while he did it successfully, it felt like a big favor and I certainly would have been more comfortable to do it and watch her myself. Amazing how they always know how long they can remain off the nest, though, based on the temperature and so forth. If it’s a nice toasty day, I’ve observed my hen to stay off for half an hour! I was also afraid she’d abandoned her clutch, but nope, back she went! So amazing, their dedication. Only small issue I had was with her second clutch... at that time there was another hen who took to laying her egg on my broody’s pile. I never saw this happen but I would easily spot the blue egg in the evening when it did. In that clutch, only 2 of 5 eggs hatched. I chalked it up to this other hen interfering with the incubation process, but who really knows!

 

[chickmamato7]

I always remove my broody hens from the rest of the flock. I've had issues with the other chooks killing the new chicks when left in there.

That's the plan after they hatch. I'll move them (with mom) to a grow-out coop before they become active enough to venture out & fall from the nest. I'll be back on day 13, so will have plenty of time to prepare.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

That's the plan after they hatch. I'll move them (with mom) to a grow-out coop before they become active enough to venture out & fall from the nest. I'll be back on day 13, so will have plenty of time to prepare.

Fingers crossed on your hatch!

 

[natalie327]

Good luck! I’ve been lucky to never have other hens attempt to harm the new babies, and also my mama hen is always plenty protective of the babies and has only allowed the other hens to get so close, like 2-3 feet away. It was sweet to see the other hens curious about the babies and then gradually, over the course of weeks, to see mama hen trust her “sister hens” start to get closer and intermingle with the chicks as they became pullets and cockerels. I felt this was super handy for me so that I avoided the hassle of setting up separate spaces for them and then also having to go through a dicey integration period when the babies are older and hope they don’t get bullied too badly by the auntie hens. But every flock is different so everyone has to see for themselves! I’d recommend attempting to see if mama and babies can hack it just fine with the aunt hens in proximity before going to the lengths on a separate set up, if you’re curious.