sitting hen got off her clutch after first one hatched??

[rabbott]

a friends hen was sitting on a clutch, one hatched last monday the other eggs were layed ramdomely after the first one was (by other hens) the eggs were candled and looked fertile... since the 1 hatched she is now off her eggs and they dont look to be pipping and eggs are cold now... is this normal? are they just not going to hatch?

also, how long after a hen hatches a peep will she become broodie again? and came you do anything to encourage that?

 

[sourland]

This is not uncommon at all and is why staggered hatches will not succeed unless chicks are removed as they hatch. Generally a hen leaves the nest within 24 hours of the time that the first chick hatches. There is no way that they can be expected to hatch if they are not being incubated.

 

[rabbott]

thanks! every new experience is a learning curve!! ok, i want to make sure i get this right... on a staggering hatch, you need to remove the 1st peep so that mama will continue to sit, thus continuing until all are hatched? or pull all the other eggs and put in an incubator?
how sad i assume the rest of these are not going to hatch and should be tossed out...

 

[Den in Penn]

This is not uncommon at all and is why staggered hatches will not succeed unless chicks are removed as they hatch. Generally a hen leaves the nest within 24 hours of the time that the first chick hatches. There is no way that they can be expected to hatch if they are not being incubated.

Yes there is always more to learn. I admit I hadn't heard of removing each chick as it hatches on a staggered hatch. Thinking about it it should at least help keep her on the nest longer. Anybody do this? How did it work?

 

[Skipspin]

Well, I've had a hen sit for 6 days after the first hatch (and it was her first clutch) so anything is possible. Another one hatched on day 2 and another one on day 4, on day 5 one hatched and didn't make it (had trouble getting out of shell and was just too weak), and then no more hatched so we took the rest of the eggs away.

We weren't planning on a super successful hatching because we realized too late the our other two hens were laying in her nest after she started sitting, but couldn't tell the eggs apart since two were "sisters." I guess she's just a really patient momma. So, if she's still sitting it's worth seeing if she will stay. The third chick was from another hen. They also all ended up being roosters.