Wretched Broody Hen Returned to WRONG NEST!!

[Chic-n-farmer]

Everything was fine at 9:30 when I left for town. When I came back my brood hen had taken a break and returned to the wrong nesting box.

She was right next to her clutch, on a nest of today's fresh laid eggs. I had been gone 4 hours, I have no idea when she left her nest but, the eggs were cool.

I showed her the right nesting box and thought I'd ask y'all if it's too late for them to be saved. I would assume all is lost but, I believe I have read posts on here giving some hope.

I completely understand how she made the mistake, as for right now there is no other place for her to sit. I had tried to encourage her to use a separate nesting area but, she is unwilling to relocate.

I'm going to try and find her a safe place to hatch but space is at a premium. Every chicken house, pigeon house, dog house, horse shed,rabbit cage, etc,... is in use by some critter. I even have 6 Seramas in the kitchen for now.

Thanks for any advice. My old broody hen would take off and hatch 15-17 chicks out every couple of months on her own.
I'm not used to these high maintenance moms-to-be!!!

 

[Chirpy]

I wouldn't give up on the eggs since you don't know for sure how long she was off them. My broody got back on the wrong nest at least 4 or 5 times during her sitting time. I kept moving her back to the right nest - the eggs were always cool/cold to the touch when I put her back. I still got one hatch out of five eggs!

This is why people recommend putting the broody in a separate safe area with only the one nest of eggs she's supposed to be sitting on. I didn't know that until late in my broody hatch. I totally understand your dilemma about not having another place to put her though. Someone else here put their broody in their bathtub... very original! Just a thought.

 

[LoneCowboy]

I've got the same problem right now. My little broody has got on the wrong eggs several times. I candled them yesterday and it looks like nothing is happening. I need to move her and give her some good eggs I guess.

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

Well now if the pool was warmer, and we could just do our bathing there, I might consider giving up the tub for a few weeks.

But since it's not...... I guess I'll have to think of something else.

It is not imperative that she hatches anything, she is just so insistant. Even when we were removing all the eggs she would just sit in the nest.

The majority of my experience with a broody hen was good ol' Cluck. She free ranged our land. Every day she would fly into the chicken pen to have a tryst with our rooster. She would get a clutch of up to 17 eggs hidden who knows where. Then she would disappear. We would spend the next three weeks watching for a glimpse of her. Then we'd watch for where she was going. Next thing you knew she would be out with her babies.

Ol' Cluck would get broody 4 times a year. Her earliest hatch was in January!

I guess Cluck spoiled us, she just kinda took care of it all on her own!

 

[ricklo]

I put 6 eggs large eggs under our Broody Bantam and she use to go to the wrong nest all the time and stay off sometimes for a couple hours (eggs were cold to the touch, but it is always 90 to 100 degrees here in Brazil) and she hatched 5 out of six, she is a good mother, now the 2 naked necks are almost as big as her! We put the largest one of the 2 in with the 2 turkey babies , he is a good teacher.

 

[RioLindoAz]

I think that this will hardy affect the eggs. As long as you sit her on the right eggs.

Once, my broody hen ditched her nest for about a day, and she got on them te next day. All the eggs hatched except for one.

 

[WriterofWords]

Charlotte and Hershey never sit 24 hours a day and they take regular breaks. I think they are a lot less paranoid than us humans! They will more than likely be fine.