Why did my Broody hen not hatch any chicks?

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

In addition to all the possible reasons already given for the eggs not hatching, it crossed my mind she didn't properly turn the eggs. 12 bantam eggs should have been a reasonable-sized clutch for her, but her inexperience may have resulted in her keeping the eggs well-covered, but not properly rotating them.

The "grease" on her feathers and eggs is a mystery for sure, since you are certain the cause wasn't a broken egg. If she neglected to dust bathe and preen her feathers while she was incubating, that could be a possible cause. On that note, look her over carefully when you bathe her. The feces of northern fowl mites in particular can can cause dirty/greasy feathers. I'm sorry her eggs didn't hatch; that's disappointing for you and her too.

 

[AishlingS]

You could use a plastic tub with warm water and some dish soap or similar. Rinse thoroughly with fresh soapfree water, then dry her well with a towel and blow dryer, but be careful not to burn her.

Prepare a completely new nest as the old one needs proper cleaning and disinfecting before letting any hen lay an egg there.

Do your ducks use the same nests as your chickens ?

Il try that thank you. Hopefully that will help she’s in with no ducks. She’s in with 3 other pekin hens and 1 fella. They all lay in the same nest but it’s only her that had the residue

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! Can you feel how she feels in your arms compared to her sister? If your broody feels lighter I would really try to break her. She could have a catastrophic weight loss and die. My fat bottom almost died last year.

 

[AishlingS]

In addition to all the possible reasons already given for the eggs not hatching, it crossed my mind she didn't properly turn the eggs. 12 bantam eggs should have been a reasonable-sized clutch for her, but her inexperience may have resulted in her keeping the eggs well-covered, but not properly rotating them.

The "grease" on her feathers and eggs is a mystery for sure, since you are certain the cause wasn't a broken egg. If she neglected to dust bathe and preen her feathers while she was incubating, that could be a possible cause. On that note, look her over carefully when you bathe her. The feces of northern fowl mites in particular can can cause dirty/greasy feathers. I'm sorry her eggs didn't hatch; that's disappointing for you and her too.

I thought that aswell so I don’t want to put her through another hatch if she just doesn’t get it?
I’ve checked her for scaly mites seems grand and she doesn’t smell and others aren’t like that so I’m really baffled and I wouldn’t mind the feathers cause she seems happy but just when the eggs feel the same and none hatched I thought might be connected?
What are northern fowl mites?

 

[AishlingS]

Hi! Can you feel how she feels in your arms compared to her sister? If your broody feels lighter I would really try to break her. She could have a catastrophic weight loss and die. My fat bottom almost died last year.

She’s greasy and bald underneath but doesn’t seem too skinny but don’t particularly want her to hatch again cause I never see her leave her nest and if there’s no hope. She’s just been persistent as I tried isolating and didn’t stop her being broody

 

[Shadrach]

it crossed my mind she didn't properly turn the eggs.

I'm not doubting your reasoning, but I wondered if you have ever been certain that a broody hen isn't turning her eggs at all, or not enough?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Hi @Shadrach , before I answer your question directly, I want to say that your question points out how two letters/one word can completely change context and meaning.

it crossed my mind she didn't properly turn the eggs. 12 bantam eggs should have been a reasonable-sized clutch for her, but her inexperience may have resulted in her keeping the eggs well-covered, but not properly rotating them.

Because I should have said "COULDN'T properly turn the eggs." Using "didn't" instead of "couldn't" implies the broody was somehow a defective mom, and I don't think that at all. On the contrary, she sounds like she was a very dedicated broody and will be a great mom. I would absolutely let her try again. But next time I would give her 7-9 eggs max and see if the eggs/embryos/chicks survive to hatch. See my reasoning below.

I'm not doubting your reasoning, but I wondered if you have ever been certain that a broody hen isn't turning her eggs at all, or not enough?

I based my thoughts off a past occurrence, as well as general egg incubation and development knowledge. Back in 2018, I had approx. 40ish broodies hatch approx. 400ish chicks. (Insane numbers I will never allow to happen again.) I was giving broodies 9-12 eggs each to incubate, and had a 90-95%% hatch rate. In the midst of this madness, I had a friend who's Buff Orp hen went broody. (First time mom.) My friend had no rooster but wanted her hen to hatch chicks, and so I sold her 4 dozen fertilized eggs that had all been laid within the past 48 hours. My friend regularly bought eating eggs from me too, and said she would select a dozen eggs to give to her broody, and her family would eat the rest. (All the eggs were extra-large in size, and a few were jumbo). 3-4 days later, my friend sent me a text that she had given her broody 16 eggs, and included a photo of her broody pancaked over them in a nest box. In her attempt to keep all the eggs covered, the broody's wings were also spread wide to the edges of the nest box. I thought that was too many eggs, but said nothing other than telling my friend to candle at 7 days. I can't remember everything that went wrong with that poor hen and those 16 eggs, but some details included 1) My friend would regularly see some eggs out from under the broody, and promptly tucked them back underneath. 2) At 7 days some eggs showed no development. 3) Some embryos died in the shell as the days passed, 4) the broody and my friend experienced the horror of a rotten egg exploding all over most of the remaining eggs, and 5) 2-3 chicks developed fully but didn't hatch. Longer story shorter, not one chick out of those 16 very fertile eggs hatched. Since I had so many chicks hatching during that time, I gave my friend 4 chicks that one of my broodies had just hatched, which made her mama hen very happy.

So no, I have no direct evidence of a broody ever failing to properly turn her eggs. On the contrary, if a broody has a manageable clutch (size-wise), I believe her natural instincts tell her exactly what to do. My comment was based on the thought that 12 eggs may have been too many for the broody to manage properly. I also think broodies instinctively know what size clutch they should set, but it often doesn't work out that way. Humans sometimes give broodies more than the optimal number of eggs; I too am guilty. But it's not just us humans that are at fault; a broody's hen friends adding their eggs to her clutch are often the worst culprits!

I’ve a broody pekin and she was very good. Stayed on the nest the entire time. I know the eggs were fertile. Hatched before and after on an incubator.
But none of them hatched under her. Some look like they started developing but not very far, others don’t even look like they started.
What could be the cause?

I based my comment on the info that @AishlingS gave in their first post. I don't think my post is any more likely than reasons given by other members; I was simply adding another possible reason.
https://www.brinsea.com/t-turningeggs.aspx

OK @Shadrach , back to you. I highly value your knowledge and wisdom, and if you disagree with my reasoning, it wont offend me at all.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

What are northern fowl mites?

The article below mentions "dirty" feathers, but other online info say northern fowl mites can cause a "greasy" feather appearance. Mites are known to take advantage of broody hens that don't dust bathe and preen as often as normal. Not saying this is the cause for your hen's greasy feathers; just saying it Could be a reason.
https://poultrykeeper.com/external-problems/northern-fowl-mite/

 

[Shadrach]

Hi @Shadrach , before I answer your question directly, I want to say that your question points out how two letters/one word can completely change context and meaning.

Because I should have said "COULDN'T properly turn the eggs." Using "didn't" instead of "couldn't" implies the broody was somehow a defective mom, and I don't think that at all. On the contrary, she sounds like she was a very dedicated broody and will be a great mom. I would absolutely let her try again. But next time I would give her 7-9 eggs max and see if the eggs/embryos/chicks survive to hatch. See my reasoning below.

I based my thoughts off a past occurrence, as well as general egg incubation and development knowledge. Back in 2018, I had approx. 40ish broodies hatch approx. 400ish chicks. (Insane numbers I will never allow to happen again.) I was giving broodies 9-12 eggs each to incubate, and had a 90-95%% hatch rate. In the midst of this madness, I had a friend who's Buff Orp hen went broody. (First time mom.) My friend had no rooster but wanted her hen to hatch chicks, and so I sold her 4 dozen fertilized eggs that had all been laid within the past 48 hours. My friend regularly bought eating eggs from me too, and said she would select a dozen eggs to give to her broody, and her family would eat the rest. (All the eggs were extra-large in size, and a few were jumbo). 3-4 days later, my friend sent me a text that she had given her broody 16 eggs, and included a photo of her broody pancaked over them in a nest box. In her attempt to keep all the eggs covered, the broody's wings were also spread wide to the edges of the nest box. I thought that was too many eggs, but said nothing other than telling my friend to candle at 7 days. I can't remember everything that went wrong with that poor hen and those 16 eggs, but some details included 1) My friend would regularly see some eggs out from under the broody, and promptly tucked them back underneath. 2) At 7 days some eggs showed no development. 3) Some embryos died in the shell as the days passed, 4) the broody and my friend experienced the horror of a rotten egg exploding all over most of the remaining eggs, and 5) 2-3 chicks developed fully but didn't hatch. Longer story shorter, not one chick out of those 16 very fertile eggs hatched. Since I had so many chicks hatching during that time, I gave my friend 4 chicks that one of my broodies had just hatched, which made her mama hen very happy.

So no, I have no direct evidence of a broody ever failing to properly turn her eggs. On the contrary, if a broody has a manageable clutch (size-wise), I believe her natural instincts tell her exactly what to do. My comment was based on the thought that 12 eggs may have been too many for the broody to manage properly. I also think broodies instinctively know what size clutch they should set, but it often doesn't work out that way. Humans sometimes give broodies more than the optimal number of eggs; I too am guilty. But it's not just us humans that are at fault; a broody's hen friends adding their eggs to her clutch are often the worst culprits!

I based my comment on the info that @AishlingS gave in their first post. I don't think my post is any more likely than reasons given by other members; I was simply adding another possible reason.
https://www.brinsea.com/t-turningeggs.aspx

OK @Shadrach , back to you. I highly value your knowledge and wisdom, and if you disagree with my reasoning, it wont offend me at all.

I don't disagree at all. I've had broodies that couldn't turn their eggs for a few hours when an egg has broken underneath and two or three more eggs had stuck to the gunky mess on her belly. I'm fairly attentive to broody hens so I was on the clean up pretty quickly.
I've also seen broodies struggle to turn eggs in hard bottomed nests. They know they should do it but the eggs roll away from them. I suppose they still get turned in the rolling.
I was more interested in whether you had come accross a broody that didn't know she should turn her eggs and just sat there. Someone I know who had an Ex Battery hen go broody told me he had to turn her eggs for the first few days because he had sat next to her for a few hours and she hadn't turned them. Unfortunately other thngs went wrong later and the two she did hatch were badly deformed and had to be killed.
It's the only case of a broody hen seemingly not knowing she has to turn the eggs I've come accross so I was wondering if you had come accross it.

Thanks for bothering to give a detailed reply.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Thanks for bothering to give a detailed reply.

And thanks for bothering to read and reply back! I do my best to keep my posts as short as I can, because I understand many people don't bother to read long posts. But if it helped @AishlingS understand why I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with her broody, and why she should be given another chance, I'm glad for every word I wrote.