When you keep chickens, a hen's eggs may be fertilized or unfertilized. The broody hen is the name for a dedicated mother bird that has begun to sit on and incubate the eggs day and night, leaving only once daily to eat, drink, and poop. If you try to remove her from her eggs, she may hiss and peck at you. A broody hen is a chicken that has decided to incubate a clutch of eggs by sitting on them all day long.
Broodiness is driven by several factors: genetics, hormones, instinct, and lighting conditions. In addition, your actions can affect a broody hen's behavior, and handling one may take some work, so you'll want to decide if you're up for the challenge. If a hen has a dark, comfortable, undisturbed spot where she can nest, she may roll a clutch of eggs usually 12 to 14 to that spot and begin to brood.
You can spot a broody hen by the following behaviors she'll exhibit:. You won't need to worry about young hens because they don't typically go broody during their first laying season.
It's the more mature ones you will need to keep an eye on, especially in the spring when it's chick-raising season. Hens do not usually get broody in the winter. It takes some doing, but you can prevent brooding hens by using a few methods.
If you don't want your hen to hatch eggs or don't have fertilized eggs, you will want to "break" your broody hen. If there are no fertile eggs available or the broody sits on an empty nest, broodiness can continue long beyond three weeks, resulting in negative health consequences for her and problems for other hens. A broody eats, drinks and eliminates waste once or twice a day at most.
Over time, her comb becomes pale, her feathers lose sheen and she loses a noticeable amount of weight. This drastic change normal routine is tolerable in 21 day stints but protracted stints are unhealthy for her.
This article addresses how to break up a broody hen. Either a hen is broody or she is not- one cannot make a hen broody. However, a hen that is already in the mood to brood may be encouraged to set if she sees a nest full of eggs or another hen brooding as the state seems to be contagious. Serious breeders have dedicated coops or broody pens for the purpose of housing broodies. A broody does not need much to do her thing: a dark, cozy spot for the eggs, a food and water station and a location in which to relieve herself.
After three weeks, the chicks should hatch and she will keep them warm, show them where the food and water is and protect them from intruders. The bottom of the nest should be soft so to protect the eggs. The weight of the hen, the shifting of position and jostling of eggs on her way into and out of the nest for 21 days can cause eggs to crack and ultimately kill any live embryo inside.
To limit the impact to the eggs, I recommend nest box pads and liners either alone or with chopped straw or shavings on top. Scratch can also be offered to the broody hen as the high carbohydrate content will provide extra calories during her three week crash diet.
Keep the food and water close to the nest to ensure that less adventurous broodies avail themselves of at least one meal a day. Fresh, cool water is critical to the health of a broody hen and should be made available at all times.
A dehydrated hen can die very quickly. A hen can manage to cover and keep warm approximately 12 eggs proportionate to her size, meaning: if she is a bantam, it is reasonable to expect that she can care for 12 bantam sized eggs, fewer if the eggs are from a larger hen. If the broody is a large fowl breed, she can handle eggs of the size she would ordinarily lay, more if they are bantam eggs. Much more about acquisition of and handling of the hatching eggs, here.
Some broodies are more attached to their chosen location than others and will protest mightily while trying to return to it if moved.
Moving a broody hen is best done at night when she is less likely to be upset by the change of scenery. The feed, water and makeshift run should be in place before the move is made. The egg candler used in the photo below is a Brinsea Ovascope. Candling eggs should be done after dark if at all, so as to limit the stress to the broody. When I candle broody eggs, I do it twice at most, at day 10 and By day 10 any egg that has not begun to develop will be obvious and should be removed.
After day 18 the embryo begins to assume the hatching position and should no longer be moved, so I like to candle on day 17 at the latest.
The photo below shows what an embryo three days away from hatching looks like from the inside left and when candling from the outside right. Contrary to popular belief, a hen does not necessarily kick bad eggs out of the nest. Sometimes eggs found outside the nest are viable and sometimes she continues to sit on rotten eggs until the bitter end. I wish I had a nickel for every rotten egg I have discovered in the nest after a hen has left it to care for her brood.
I have also rescued more than one developing egg that a broody has kicked out of the nest. Rotten eggs can often be detected from a considerable distance and must be removed from the clutch so as not to jeopardize the entire hatch.
More on rotten eggs, here. Silkies are noted for their keen desire to set and to mother chicks. Bantams of the setting breeds are good bets, too. So once you have a proven broody, keep her! Keep in mind that you can raise prolific, nonsetting breeds if you need lots of eggs, but also keep a few setting-breed hens to hatch eggs and raise chicks.
If you keep ducks, guinea fowl or quail, you can hatch their eggs under broody chickens, too. Why Brood? Why would you choose to raise chicks under a hen instead of in an incubator? Some perks: Incubators can be fairly expensive to buy and operate. There are also disadvantages to consider, too. Your hens might not be broody when you want to hatch some eggs. Hens tend to be broody in the spring through midsummer, but they rarely set in the winter.
What next? It takes 21 days for a hen to hatch an egg; in fact, some eggs will even hatch a day or so before that. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Resume How long can a broody hen go without food and water?
Ben Davis June 2, How long can a broody hen go without food and water? Should you feed a broody hen? How do you take care of a broody hen? How long can a brooding hen stay off her eggs? Do eggs get heavier before they hatch? How do you tell if an egg is alive or dead? How do you tell if an egg is going to hatch? Do birds know if their eggs are dead?
Do birds abandon eggs if touched? Do birds get rid of bad eggs? Why do birds kick eggs out of nest? Do birds mourn the loss of a baby?
Why do robins throw eggs out of nest? Do robins sit on their eggs at night?
0コメント