broody hen,will she still sit

[jimred]

I have a girlie sitting tight for the last two days, i have some ebay eggs coming tomorrow.
my question is will she sit over the 21 days incubation?
Thanks

[Chocolate Brownie]

are you incubating the eggs the putting the chicks underneath her then???
Our broody has been sitting on e-bay eggs for over a week now and she went for a week without them.

[HayleyB]

We gave Cookie a marble egg to sit on until the eggs arrived. you need to rest the eggs for 12-24 days before putting them under her.

[Nicos]

We gave Cookie a marble egg to sit on until the eggs arrived. you need to rest the eggs for 12-24 days before putting them under her.

Hours surley??

One of my chooks has been sitting for 26 days now ( 7 without any eggs - and then 19 with) She seems very happy to be sitting still!

[Chocolate Brownie]

lol.... Yeah hours mum.... 24 days and they would have hatched!

[HayleyB]

Oooooops I meant hours.................

[Chocolate Brownie]

you say that now....

[RichmondHens]

She will be fine. Two days is not very long to be broody anyway so I would let her sit for a few more days to make sure she means it. I usually let mine sit on "starter" eggs for 3 - 4 days to see if they are happy with being moved to a broody coop, then put the intended eggs under. I have a hen who hatched a chick on Good Friday who had been broody pretty much since November!!!! I wasn't going to sit her as she had been going for so long but gave her a couple of eggs as thought it might be the only way to get her back to normal. She is as happy as larry with her new chick and has been outside with it ever since it hatched, so hopefully she will now gain some weight.

[gillian62]

Does a broody hen with eggs need to be separated from the other hens? I have got one chicken who finds the others eggs in the nest boxes and cossies down with them, so not sure about giving her some fertile eggs.

[RichmondHens]

Does a broody hen with eggs need to be separated from the other hens? I have got one chicken who finds the others eggs in the nest boxes and cossies down with them, so not sure about giving her some fertile eggs.

It partly depends on the hen. Some prefer to stay in the main house and find it difficult to settle if they are on their own. Others have to be separated because they become so aggressive about their personal space (ie the nestbox) that they keep the other hens out who want to lay. If a hen is serious about brooding though she will usually settle quite happily on her own.

From a management point of view though, I find it easier to separate them, they can then have a separate diet (I give my broodies mostly wheat) and the chicks are safe when they hatch. I always get a little worried about chicks hatching in nestboxes in case they fall out and can't get back in.

[Nicos]

I've got bantams and they are happy to sit and lay or sit and brood 4 in a box at the same time!

Problem is that none of them knows who has got the eggs and they can get 'lost' and end up in the corner of the nesting box getting cold.

Tippy Toes now has 3 chicks and she was the only broody one at the time of sitting on the eggs. I left her in a nesting box and checked 4 times a day underneath her- and removed eggs laid by the other gals. Being a different colour and size , this was easily done!

Just before they were due to hatch I moved her to another box with mesh across the front - to stop any other gals clambering in with her , and to stop the chicks falling out.(Let mom out for a stretch ,poop, nosh and water twice a day)
Now the chicks are hatched they are free ranging and fitting into the community!

You're going to be fine jimred!!!- what breed is mom- and what are the eggs???

[Hilary B]

I always separated them (put the hen in the new place with fake or non-hatching eggs for a couple of days before giving her the 'proper' ones). If another hen decides to be broody too, there can be conflict/confusion over who is caring for the chicks, and SOMETIMES this leads to chicks being allowed to die of neglect.

[RichmondHens]

I always separated them (put the hen in the new place with fake or non-hatching eggs for a couple of days before giving her the 'proper' ones). If another hen decides to be broody too, there can be conflict/confusion over who is caring for the chicks, and SOMETIMES this leads to chicks being allowed to die of neglect.

I've certainly noticed with hens that are allowed to sit in the nestbox that they can squabble over the eggs so much that the eggs get pushed out and the hens don't notice as they are too busy trying to muscle each other off the chosen spot (we don't have individual nestboxes in our houses, just one big long one that several hens can sit in together). Then the eggs can get cold.