Should I give more eggs to my broody?

[chuckachucka]

I have a broody hen who I got some fertile eggs for. She sat on them 22 days but none hatched. Today, day 22, I checked them and they were all empty, but she is still sitting there. She has been broody twice before in total and hatched babies both times so it's hard to see her disappointed this time.

Is it too late to get more eggs for her? Is it ok for a broody hen to sit for 6-7 weeks? Or is it likely she will give up and leave the nest now?

 

[bobbi-j]

Is there any way you can get her some day old chicks? (I know it's hard to find them here this time of year, don't know about the UK) I would not give her more eggs. Broodiness, while perfectly normal, can take a lot out of a hen. As she sits, she loses condition and uses up her body's stores of fat, etc. If you can't get her any babies, I'd just take her off the nest and see if she stays off. If not, you may have to break her broodiness.

 

[chuckachucka]

Unfortunately I can't find anyone selling chicks in my area, so I am now trying to break her. She's in a wire bottom cage now so I will see if that works.

 

[varidgerunner]

A good hen will leave to eat and clean out and get a little exercise. I have traded out eggs, shipped eggs that didn't hatch, or whatever, on hens before. Just give them fertile eggs and let them start over. 42 days back to back might mess up their schedule, and you might not get a third brood for the year, but shouldn't really hurt them.

 

[chuckachucka]

thanks for the reply. After three days in the cage she was still not broken so I have now set her up with some new eggs on her nest and she is sitting on them again. I hope after a couple of days of eating more whilst off the nest she will be ok to sit another three weeks. I'm also hoping she won't give up in the middle of this batch. Is that likely? Will she just keep sitting and sitting for weeks? She is a very broody aseel breed and has always had chicks hatch after brooding.

 

[varidgerunner]

You can't break asil hens, only delay them for a while. You would have to kill them to get them to stop brooding. Just watch her for mites, that will mess them up sometimes. I had one set for three times in a row. First batch didn't hatch because they had been shipped, second batch her pen got flooded in a freak storm, and the third batch she hatched. And she hatched another batch later that year, normally she does three a year. They can handle it just fine, they get off the nest and empty and eat, like a chicken is supposed to, and they are healthier to begin with, compared to the fuzzy mutants that everybody seems to consider "broody".

 

[chuckachucka]

Good to know! I do have fuzzy mutants as well but the asil hen is by far the superior mother.

 

[varidgerunner]

I've heard of the fuzzy ones not getting off the nest, pooping all over the eggs, and even starving themselves to death. They need to get off once or twice a day until the last few days.