Update: Candled eggs! Questions on letting broody hens/ hens hatching eggs

[TreCurtis]

Ok, so this is my first experiment in the broody business, AND I'm relatively new to raising chickens.

So, let me start off by saying that I had suspected I had a couple broody hens laying on a clutch, but I couldn't really get in to check on them because I had this extremely aggressive rooster who has since been culled. Incidentally, that's the same reason they ended up with the clutch in the first place. Anyhow, now I am able to get in there without fear and really check on them. Just as I suspected; two broody hens side by side, practically sharing a nest! I suspected one has been broody now for at least two weeks, and the other probably closer to a week (although my memory is really fuzzy). I actually want to try to hatch this clutch, especially now that I don't have a rooster.

I have some probably really stupid questions... So my apologies in advance. LOL!

So my questions are: I'm tempted, can I actually just leave them be and watch what happens, does anyone have any experience with just letting a chicken lay, set, hatch, and brood with minimal intervention? We've had some hot weather, can the hens essentially bake the eggs (it ran through my mind and I had to ask!)? I have some duck eggs in there as well, if and when chicks come I'm considering putting the duck eggs under chicken number 2? Do they know if there is a dud egg? What is the success rate with this type of situation? I've pretty much convinced myself that this will not actually happen, so when do I give up?

Thanks everyone!

Teresa

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hens have been laying, hatching, and raising chicks with no real human intervention for thousands of years, so yes it is possible. The ones most successful at this are the ones that hide a nest, not lay in a coop. When you have other chickens laying in the coop, you need some intervention.

The problem is that other hens will continue to lay in the broody hen’s nest. There are different bad things associated with that. The hen may accumulate so many eggs she can’t cover them all. Eggs will get pushed out from under her, cool off and die, get pulled back under her while other good eggs are pushed out to cool off and die. You seldom get good hatches when the hen accumulates too many eggs.

The other bad thing is that you have staggered hatches. The hen will take the first chicks that hatch off the nest to get them food and water and abandon any unhatched eggs to die.

What I do when I get a broody is gather all the eggs I want her to hatch, mark them with a Sharpie so I can tell which ones belong, and put them all under her at the same time. Then, every day in the evening I check under her and remove any eggs that don’t belong. They are still good to use as long as you remove hem daily. That’s all the intervention it normally takes.

You do need to check under her daily though and she might peck you. Gloves and long sleeves might help you with that. When I was a kid, my job was to gather the eggs. That meant I had to check under any broodies. Some of those broodies were mean, but no way was I going to tell my father I was afraid of a chicken. And I did not have gloves or long sleeves!

Don’t worry about the hens baking the eggs. Her body only gets up to incubation temperature so she can’t get them any warmer than that. When the weather is really warm a broody spends more time off the nest and will even sort of stand up on the nest sometimes instead of hunkering down. If the weather is colder, she stays on the nest more.

Your second broody really complicates it but gives you some options. Sometimes two broodies will work together to hatch and raise the chicks, making a great team. Sometimes they take care of their own and ignore the others. Sometimes they fight over the eggs or chicks, damaging or killing them. When the first broody hatches, the second one might abandon her eggs when she hears the chicks hatching, either helping with them or fighting for them. Occasionally one broody will try to kill the other broody’s chicks. They are two females really, really hopped up on hormones and wanting the best for their chicks, but they are not rational. I can’t tell you which of these will happen with your two broodies.

Some of your options. Build separate quarters for the broodies and separate them from the flock and each other, or do this for just one. You’ll need room for a nest, food and water, and a little room for them to come off the nest and go poop. They need to be locked in there so they cannot go back to their original nest and the other chickens can’t get to them. You may or may not need to keep them separated while they are raising the chicks, depending on if they fight.

You can take the chicks as they hatch and dry off and hope the broodies don’t abandon the nests. The chicks can go three days without food and water since they absorb the yolk, just keep them warm. Then after a couple of days take the first broody off and see if she will accept the chicks, or raise them yourself. You can put any unhatched eggs under the second broody since you probably have a staggered hatch and continue collecting the chicks as they hatch and dry off, hoping to keep her on the nest until her eggs hatch. This is complicated and messy, plus there are real risks things will not work out. And it is maximum intervention.

Or you can just stay back and see how things work out. Any way you go about this, you are not likely to get a great hatch.

They do not know when an egg is a dud. Occasionally people report on here that their hens will kick some eggs out of the nest and they claim they are duds. They may be right. But I’ve never had a hen kick eggs out of a nest, whether they are duds or not. But then I have fairly high lips on my nests so it’s a little harder for a hen to accidently kick an egg out or a chick to fall from the nest.

For your duck eggs, you can take the chicks as they hatch and dry off and give them to one of the broodies, like I mentioned above. When you have all the chicks you can get, take the other hen’s remaining eggs away from her and give her duck eggs if she stays on the nest. If you take the chicks as they hatch and dry off, the broody will often stay on the nest. Often, not always.

Good luck!

 

[TreCurtis]

Thanks Ridgerunner for taking the time to answer all of my questions! You've provided me with great comprehensive material! I've decided to let them be for a couple weeks and observe what happens... But now I have great information going forward! My husband and I really appreciate the info!

Teresa

 

[TreCurtis]

Another question... I started to candle the eggs just to see what was going on ( i realize this is in daylight so it doesn't work as well). The light wouldn't pass through the shell. I tried fresher eggs to compare and indeed the light passed through it quite easily. Does this mean that I have embryos? If so, can you perhaps indicate how far along? Just to clarify, there was hardly any light passing through. I couldn't even necessarily see any air sacs...

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is a link to the Learning Center above. It shows what you can see in the different stages.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/candling-pics-progression-through-incubation-of-chicken-eggs

Try it in the dark. It makes a big difference. You should be able to see the air cell pretty easily, but if the rest is dark, they are pretty far along. Pretty dark is a good sign.

 

[lavenderorpgirl]

I will use a towel or robe draped over me to make it as dark as possible (even in the barn lol) so I can get a good luck at what's happening in the egg. I can't tell anything when trying to candle in daylight. Sometimes I go out way late at night to do it as well...

 

[TreCurtis]

Thanks, guys!! I like the towel/robe trick idea! going to give that one a shot!

 

[gigelus2k13]

Because the eggs under the broody did not match the number she started with (two were missing), I candled today all the recent eggs in the fridge, using a high-lux LED flashlight. It was 4 in the afternoon on a really sunny day, just the shade of an open garage. The flashlight was bright enough to see everything, which means you don't need darkness to do it.

However, if I would have used it on an egg containing a live embryo, would the strong light affect or damage the chick (e.g. blinding her)?

 

[TreCurtis]

Update!! After following ridgerunners advice, one of my hens is the pround mama of two ducklings! So far everyone is doing well and integrating in the flock quite nicely. Baby ducks were hatched on Friday and they are looking great! Thanks again, Ridgerunner!