Author Topic: Broody advice please (Read 4786 times)

HappyHippy · « **on:** April 12, 2014, 06:29:40 pm »

Hiya

I've got a silkie bantam who's been sitting tight on 6 eggs for the last fortnight. She's not confined to a separate coop, but has a little fortress of pallets within our big (fairly open) shed. We lift her out every day to make sure she feeds and she is able to get out and back in on her own......if she wanted too

I've NEVER hatched eggs myself or had a broody so I'm keen to make sure I do everything right to maximise the clutch's chance of survival - help please !

Should I 'candle' the eggs ? And if yes, is there an easy and reliable way to do it without investing in 'proper (expensive) kit'?

Should I move her and the nest into a small, enclosed coop?

Is there anything I should get in preparation? Chick crumbs ?
All advice gladly received

Thanks, Karen

in the hills · « **Reply #1 on:** April 12, 2014, 07:59:33 pm »

Not a good idea to move her now until they hatch .... she may decide to give up sitting.

I personally would move once hatched so that she is safe and calm to raise her family .... unless you can make it suitable where she is now. Difficult to say unless you can see the set up. Our broodies get quite upset by other hens coming near their chicks in the first few weeks so they go into a coop of their own.

I wouldn't bother to candle eggs under a hen but my daughter likes to

. Just hold the egg in a dark box and shine a strong/powerful torch through the egg. You can often see the embryo move and can usually see a dark area where chick is .... you can google to find images. You may not be sure first time so I wouldn't be in a rush to bin eggs in case you get it wrong

.... easy to do after a while, my daughter can do it reliably.

Chick crumbs yes

. Mum will eat these too .... no need for any separate food for her. Water in shallow container with clean pebbles in or small water hopper .... just so they can't drown.

HesterF · « **Reply #2 on:** April 12, 2014, 09:14:10 pm »

She sounds fine where she is for now. Is she rat proof? That's the only concern I'd have for her eggs and then chicks in an open shed. Hens have quite a good instinct on fertile eggs vs. non-fertile so she'll probably kick out any that aren't fertile but I like to candle anyway (and have also had a couple of broodies that were lacking the relevant instincts and kicked out eggs that subsequently hatched in the incubator).

Chick crumbs yes - and with medication if you're not organic - helps prevent coccidiosis (not sure I spelt that right).

goosepimple · « **Reply #3 on:** April 12, 2014, 09:56:07 pm »

Don't move her, she won't 'get that' and will want to go back to the original spot, she'll not realise it's still her eggs.

A head torch if you have one is just as good as a candler or any strong torch you have if you cone your fingers around the lit end so to focus the light into the egg rather than it having radiate light. But you don't have to candle Karen, just if you don't think they're fertile (or if you just want to know anyway

) but I find hens get a bit more agitated about you handling their eggs than ducks do.

I feed brown bread crumbs at about day 3 or better still made sloppy with milk for protein (don't bother with food for them before that, mum will just eat it) and gradually mix in the harder crumbs - you can of course soften the chick crumbs but the brown bread crumbs help at the start so they get the idea.

I wouldn't take her off for a break either - I know the books say to do that sometimes but she'll come off at a time she thinks it's safe to do so and she knows there will be food there for her, she'll not understand you're taking her off for a break.

Don't fiddle around with her / eggs / chicks, have confidence to leave her alone to do it herself, she won't want intervention, she will just want you to leave her to it and she'll do it beautifully all by herself.
Good luck, just how wee and fluffy are these chickalumps going to be!

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #4 on:** April 13, 2014, 02:10:40 pm »

I agree with Goosepimple. A lot of books and articles advocate faffing around lifting the hen off every day, candling and so on but they've been doing it for themselves for millennia and are probably a lot better at it than we give them credit for. They don't always kick out all infertile eggs but the ones they do will be infertile or cracked. I just put feed and water nearby and let them get on with it. If no chicks have appeared by day 24 it might be worth risking getting thoroughly pecked and sliding your hand beneath her if you can. No point in her continuing to sit on non-hatching eggs. I generally replace breeders pellets with chick crumbs on Day 19 - in a shallow bowl to start with.

HappyHippy · « **Reply #5 on:** April 13, 2014, 04:27:47 pm »

Thanks for all your advice guys

However, things here have altered slightly.....
'Something' was in the shed last night around 4am - broody hen sounded like she was being murdered so we ran up to the shed - all seemed to be fine, no missing chickens and nothing obvious, but only 3 eggs in the nest

She's been a bit unsettled today and hasn't been sitting much (eggs feel colder) so I'm going to move her and the nest to a safe and secure place (a large dog cage in our bedroom

) to see if she'll settle again.......I'm probably breaking all the 'rules' but we've lost 2 other broodies that were sitting this year (suspect badgers, so there's nothing I can really do - they can access pretty much everywhere and it would be impossible to make the shed secure - it's an old cattle byre

all the chickens roost in the shed rafters, it's only the broodies that move lower...) so I'm going to do all I can to try and save this one

I'll keep you posted.......
Thanks, Karen x

sabrina · « **Reply #6 on:** April 13, 2014, 05:16:59 pm »

I have moved a broody hen who was not sitting in a safe place. I put her in a small dog cage and covered it over for 24hours. worked a treat. We have 10 chicks just now that we hatched in the incubator. Got it right this time and all doing well.

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #7 on:** April 13, 2014, 07:17:40 pm »

Our broody hatched her own 3 weeks ago. I just had a diddy feeder and diddy drinker with water and chick crumb ready. Chick was eating alongside mum by 24 hours old, so cute. We use chick crumb as it has the vitamins in and mum can eat same.
I had to move her but that was only a few days in and I did it dead of night into her own broody coop with a run.
we candled the eggs and it was brilliant for the children to see what was occuring. only did it twice in the 21 day period.

HappyHippy · « **Reply #8 on:** April 13, 2014, 09:40:04 pm »

Well, she looks quite happy and settled in the bedroom

sitting back tight on her eggs so

I dunno what the cats are going to make of it when they realise they're getting excluded from the room, no doubt I'll get lots of 'presents' from the delightful felines as they try to worm their way back in

goosepimple · « **Reply #9 on:** April 14, 2014, 08:44:12 am »

All part of smallholding HH, taking over the house - like going back to the days of butt n ben

bloomer · « **Reply #10 on:** April 14, 2014, 08:49:02 am »

all i know is mine is still sitting tight!!!

3 weeks is a long time whilst waiting for eggs to hatch!!!

roll on the 26th!!!

bloomer · « **Reply #11 on:** April 14, 2014, 09:04:22 am »

me and my big mouth, just been to check on her she has rejected 2 eggs and cracked them open is that usual?

both showed signs of development but the smell in my garden is currently bloody awful!!!

my bacon butty is in serious danger of reappearing!!!

goosepimple · « **Reply #12 on:** April 14, 2014, 12:07:57 pm »

No but it happens, remember a full hatch and 3 weeks is all textbook not necessarily reality. Don't be too hasty to throw her off if day 21 passes with nothing, leave her for another few days at least.

Breathe in the aroma bloomer, it's all nutritious.

Somewhere_by_the_river · « **Reply #13 on:** April 14, 2014, 12:13:21 pm »

Quote

she has rejected 2 eggs and cracked them open is that usual?

Sometimes the hens seem to know if there's something defective with the eggs/chicks, so whilst it's not usual it can happen. Equally, we had one hen I didn't trust, I just had a feeling about her, so never allowed her to sit on eggs. We re-homed her as part of a trio and, sure enough, next season we were told she'd destroyed the whole clutch she had been sitting on.

I've also been rather wary of the whole 21 days for a bantam, 28 for full size - our Pekin eggs have always taken the full 28 days too... Perhaps they just know where they are well off and warm?!

Hope the rest of the eggs are okay bloomer?