Sneaky first broody

[Fowlfiends]

My hens have only been laying a month (first egg appeared on July 14th) and one has already gone broody. Not only did she go broody but she nested out (found herself a quiet little place in ivy along the house) and surprised me with a clutch of 12 eggs when I finally found her two days later! I’m not even sure how she amassed so many in such a short time because her breed is only expected to lay about 2-3 eggs a week and she didn’t start laying until a couple weeks after the first egg appeared. Anyhow, I was not prepared for a hen to go broody so quickly or to shun the safety of the coop. I’m not sure what sort of accommodations I need to create for her and her clutch. I did find a pretty clean box (that has not been used for chickens before) and lined it with straw. I then transferred hen and her clutch to the box and have it stowed safely in my bathroom with a weighted screen on top. But she’s going to need more room than a box to eat, get water, and defecate away from her clutch. Also, what do I do if none of the eggs turn out to be fertile when I candle them in a few days?

 

[DiYMama540]

If they don't appear to be fertile when you candle you can always take the eggs and start trying some of the "broody breaker" methods. Sounds like this girl is going to be very determined to have some chicks if her own! I did not realize they would go broody so early on!
The eggs you take from her should still be ok to boil and feed back to your birds for a special treat!

 

[Fowlfiends]

I didn’t realize they could go broody so early either. My neighbor was just saying, “At least you don’t have to worry about broodys yet” so she didn’t seem to know they could go broody so young either. This little lady had a single egg in the coop about two weeks ago and then this! She’s very determined, but she’s an Old English Game bantam so I guess that’s to be expected. I’m glad my Silkie hasn’t taken it in her mind to set yet.

 

[Fowlfiends]

Maid Marion is now settled on her clutch of 13!? eggs in our starter brooder in the basement with food and water. We don’t really *want* more chickens but since she put in so much effort, we’re giving her a shot at chicks. I know a mom who is considering letting her kids raise a couple chicks, so they might get a belated Labor Day gift. If none of the eggs turn out to be viable, I will attempt to break the brood and put her back with the flock.

 

[DiYMama540]

Lol I find it hard to believe she's laid all those on her own! She possibly stole some from her flock mates, or they laid eggs for her in the nest. That's crazy tho...definitely want to hear updates!

 

[Fowlfiends]

I can’t hardly believe they are all hers, either, and yet they are all the same beige color and size, just about the diameter of a quarter. Even Sophie’s eggs (Sophie is my Silkie) are twice the size of any of these! I’ll try to get a photo tomorrow. Also, I recounted, and there are 13.

 

[Fowlfiends]

This is Maid Marion’s clutch. I’ll candle them in a couple days.