Topic of the Week - Broody hens

[Betsy57]

Dingbat's first hatches! Yeah! Took her 3 years. She's making a good mama.

 

[Ren2014]

Any input on whether I should try to move my broody and nest?

Info- She is under the house and I haven't seen the nest yet. She has been sitting at least a week, but I am not sure how long before I noticed she wasn't in the coop. Probably not more than a couple of days. She doesn't come out very often, my daughter has only seen her a couple of times. So she has no food or drink close by and I'm kinda afraid to add food as it could possibly attract predators or varmints.

So do I have to worry about killing the eggs if I do move them? I know to handle gently, but don't know if they can make it back to their same position in the nest. I would have someone crawl under there and it's dark so probably won't try to mark them or anything. If I do move it, should I try candling?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Definitely move her. As someone suggested late in the day is the best time and definitely put her in an enclosure where she can't get out. Put food and water in with her. We just moved a BO broody from our chicken coop and there was already one egg with an external pip. We put the eggs in a bowl with several towels, covered them up and then I scooped her up. My DH carried the eggs. I put mama in the house first and let her watch me place her eggs in her new nest. I just put them in randomly but placed the pipped up. She immediately went to sitting on them. That was Sunday and 1 egg has hatched each day since. Good luck with your move and hatching.

Hi BYC friends!

Thank you so much for all this great info, it is so helpful for those of us still learning!

I have a question about my Buff Orpington Momma who has been broody for at least 16 days (she began setting while we were out of town so we're not sure exactly when she started) -- She is nice and comfy in one of the nest boxes inside the chicken house, near the food and water, safe from predators, and with 9 other boxes free for the other girls to lay in. So my question is this, do I need to separate her from the other girls and the rooster?, now?, or after the chicks hatch? Will the others in the flock harm the babies once they hatch? (Do I need to be watching/"policing"?) Also, the nest she is setting in is not at "floor level", it's up on the second row of nest boxes ... when they hatch do I need to move them down onto the floor of the house? Will Momma do that?

OK sorry, that is more than one question.

But thank you in advance for any advice!! This is our first hatch and our whole family is so excited! I just want to make sure we know what to do.

Thanks y'all!!

I wasn't sure when our BO started sitting or who's eggs she was on. I would suggest you candle and see if everyone looks to be the same in development. I found ours were at different stages and brought the younger ones in to the incubator. We moved her because our chicken nest boxes are not floor level.

Dingbat's first hatches! Yeah! Took her 3 years. She's making a good mama.

So precious!

 

[Ren2014]

Before I cleaned up the broody poop, lol. Another thing to add to the list of how do you know when you have a broody... THE BROODY POOP

OMG, very large and very smelly.

 

[crealbilly]

One thing i can say about mt lil broody RIR. Im glad shes the momma hen and not me. Now that i have an established flock. I am going to try like heck to raise a self sufficient flock. I dont want to go back to incubators, brooders and playing momma hen again. Hens know how to do this much better than I do, way much better than I do.

 

[Flock Master64]

I want a broody

 

[Betsy57]

I want a broody

You'll get one when the timing is wrong! Always seems to go that way for me. Dingbat is molting now too while having to take care of and keep babies warm.

 

[HSMomma3]

Definitely move her. As someone suggested late in the day is the best time and definitely put her in an enclosure where she can't get out. Put food and water in with her. We just moved a BO broody from our chicken coop and there was already one egg with an external pip. We put the eggs in a bowl with several towels, covered them up and then I scooped her up. My DH carried the eggs. I put mama in the house first and let her watch me place her eggs in her new nest. I just put them in randomly but placed the pipped up. She immediately went to sitting on them. That was Sunday and 1 egg has hatched each day since. Good luck with your move and hatching.

I wasn't sure when our BO started sitting or who's eggs she was on. I would suggest you candle and see if everyone looks to be the same in development. I found ours were at different stages and brought the younger ones in to the incubator. We moved her because our chicken nest boxes are not floor level.

So precious!

Thank you for this, Ren2014! So I will be moving her down to the floor this evening, made a little pen for her in the corner under the other nest boxes. I can candle the eggs while I'm moving them, BUT I'm a bit of a newbie still, and I don't think I know how to tell where they are in development... What do I look for? Also I read on another post that you aren't supposed to candle after day 18... if I'm not sure of what "day" they are on, will candling harm them if they are close to hatching? Next problem is, I don't have an incubator.

I never planned to do any chicks except naturally with a broody Momma... will she continue sitting if there are unhatched eggs? If not, what can I do to help later developers?

Sorry I am full of questions! Starting to feel pretty unprepared.

Thanks again!

 

[JaeG]

Thank you for this, Ren2014! So I will be moving her down to the floor this evening, made a little pen for her in the corner under the other nest boxes. I can candle the eggs while I'm moving them, BUT I'm a bit of a newbie still, and I don't think I know how to tell where they are in development... What do I look for? Also I read on another post that you aren't supposed to candle after day 18... if I'm not sure of what "day" they are on, will candling harm them if they are close to hatching? Next problem is, I don't have an incubator.

I never planned to do any chicks except naturally with a broody Momma... will she continue sitting if there are unhatched eggs? If not, what can I do to help later developers?

Sorry I am full of questions! Starting to feel pretty unprepared.

Thanks again!

Search for 'egg candling' and the first one that comes up (title starts "chicks are here") has great pictures of the progression/development of the chick in the egg. Mommy chicken will sit for about 48 hours after her first egg hatches then she will decide her hatched chicks need feeding and leave any unhatched eggs. Hopefully most will hatch within that period for you. Good luck - it's always so exciting!

 

[owlmeadowfarm32]

I have a broody hen and we gave her eggs but two days before they hatched she moved to a different nest box

 

[Ren2014]

Thank you for this, Ren2014! So I will be moving her down to the floor this evening, made a little pen for her in the corner under the other nest boxes. I can candle the eggs while I'm moving them, BUT I'm a bit of a newbie still, and I don't think I know how to tell where they are in development... What do I look for? Also I read on another post that you aren't supposed to candle after day 18... if I'm not sure of what "day" they are on, will candling harm them if they are close to hatching? Next problem is, I don't have an incubator.

I never planned to do any chicks except naturally with a broody Momma... will she continue sitting if there are unhatched eggs? If not, what can I do to help later developers?

Sorry I am full of questions! Starting to feel pretty unprepared.

Thanks again!

Welcome

My girl sat for the 3 days they started hatching. I didn't see her off the eggs until day 4.
If they are close to hatching there will be a big 'dip down' in the air cell. Next comes what appears to be shadows and then if there is an internal pip you will see the beak. Also, if internally pipped you will hear peeping. A lot of people candle all the way up to hatching. These are the 'hands on' folks that will assist with the hatch if something isn't going right. I tend to be hands on

There are a lot of different candling charts on line. Search here and google it to get all kinds of different views.