Two eggs due to hatch out any time...will my hen stay broody?

[crazychickengirl]

I have two eggs under my broody hen that are going to be hatching in a day or so. Today I found a nest of 6 eggs that one of my hens was hiding, but as of now isn't broody. I put the 6 new eggs under my currently broody hen. But once the two babies hatch, will she no longer be broody? She tucked all 6 eggs under her today and has been sitting on them ever since. WIll she continue to be broody as long as she has eggs under her?

 

[Wildsky]

I think once the current chicks are up and about - mom hen will get off her nest to show them around, teach them to eat and drink etc...... those new eggs will need to either go under another broody, or into an incubator.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

If the two are due to hatch anytime do you have another way to incubate them until they hatch? You could then take them away and leave her with the new ones. I'm not sure how long she will remain broody maybe someone else will know.

If you have an electric skillet or toaster oven you could try my link below. Or there are a lot of threads on homemade incubators you could look up.

 

[crazychickengirl]

I was thinking of taking the two babies once they hatch so we could hand raise them in the brooder. Would she still stay off the other eggs then? They've only been under the hen for maybe three hours...should I just go get them and put them in the fridge to eat?

 

[crazychickengirl]

No, I don't have another way to incubate the two new eggs unless I'd take them to my friend's house and put them in her bator. I hate the thought of them being "out" too long and getting cold. I think I'll just take the new eggs out from under her. I could always see how she acts once the babies hatch and then go from there.

The electric skillet looks really neat!!

 

[Chickenaddict]

Its hard to say sometimes they stay broody after some babies hatch... I have a hen i hatched 5 eggs under 3 out of the 5 hatched and a week later decided to give her some more eggs to lay on while she was raising babies....so they were almost a month apart. First one to hatch out of the second round was attacked by her but she still layed on the other 4... I ended up taking her out of the brooding box and putting her in a kennel until the other eggs hatched meanwhile saving lil precious who is an ameraucana white cochin bantie mix.... shes blue with blonde highlights on her head and feathered feet! I wouuldnt reccomend it because unless your there to intervein something tragic could happen.... funny thing about the rest of the babies who hatched a few days after dear precious is she was fine with those babies too but when i tried to reintroduce her to her other babies she went nuts so i ended up taking alll the babies from her and hand raising them. Update on the hen.... shes on her 3rd clutch this year babies range from 1 to 3 days old 5 of them and she is an excellent mother this time around... i know now not to try and shove more eggs under her after shes already got babies running around

 

[GwenFarms]

You can usually pull the babies out as soon as they hatch. Its even better to pull them out a day, or so before hatch and put them i a bator to finish, but if you don't have a bator. Just watch her close and if you catch her before she leaves with the chicks you can pull them out, put them in a brooder and put your new eggs under her. I've done this dozens of times with success. You don't want to sit your hen more than two times and this can be hard on her, but any more than that and you may sit her to death. It depends on the breed of hen too. We use games for broodies and they are pretty hard sitters. Good Luck!

 

[crazychickengirl]

UPDATE****

One baby hatched out yesterday afternoon and I found it lying on the coop floor, with momma hen sitting on her other egg about two feet away. So I took the baby and put her in the brooder and she's doing great! I checked on the other egg this morning and it had just hatched, so I brought it into the brooder too. Momma Hen was still sitting in the coop doing her broody clucking, so I tucked the 6 eggs that I found yesterday under her again and she's sitting their as happy as can be. We'll see how it goes! Thanks for all your great advice!

 

[sara]

You will want to be careful allowing her to sit on another batch of eggs. It takes a lot out of a hen to be broody, and extending it another three weeks may be too much for the hen. They don't eat as much while being broody as they do when they aren't.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
I agree. My broody who has been sitting now for around 4 weeks (she sat a week before we got her some eggs) looks very weak and un-healthy right now, her comb is so pale its almost white...... she has 2 out of 4 eggs hatched, and I've been feeding her every day, holding water for her every day - as well as her having her own food and water dishes available 24/7