Broody gathered more eggs

[Still Amateur]

We thought we had two broodies so we gave each hen a clutch of 5 eggs. Later that day one of the hens was off the clutch, not committed to being broody, so I gave all ten eggs to the barred rock that was committed. I checked yesterday, 3 days later, and she somehow has an additional 3 eggs. I assume someone laid on top of her bc it would take some dedication to snag three eggs out of another nesting box the way we have it set up.

Question is, with as much as a 3-day difference in age, is momma going to hatch them all? Once they start popping out how will she control the live ones while still sitting on the later ones?

 

[HonkABC]

She will get off after 1-2 days after the first chick hatches, and leave the remaining eggs behind, because she needs to feed the live chicks

 

[Still Amateur]

She will get off after 1-2 days after the first chick hatches, and leave the remaining eggs behind, because she needs to feed the live chicks

We might be right on that border or we may be one day late on it. I’d hate for her to abandon nearly fully developed chicks in the egg but we have no sort of incubator set up. I’m only letting the flock grow bc we had a broody to do it for us naturally.

 

[Finnie]

We might be right on that border or we may be one day late on it. I’d hate for her to abandon nearly fully developed chicks in the egg but we have no sort of incubator set up. I’m only letting the flock grow bc we had a broody to do it for us naturally.

To avoid this, you can mark the original eggs. (Or if you can’t tell the originals from the 3 new ones, mark those too and keep your fingers crossed they hatch.) Then from that point on, every day remove any new eggs that are added to the nest.

This is important because the other hens will continue adding to the nest until there are too many eggs for the broody to cover. Then as she rotates the eggs, the viable ones you want to hatch will get pushed out and become cold. The newer ones will start to incubate and then they too will get rotated around to the cold spots. You will end up with no eggs hatching at all.

An even better idea is to isolate the broody hen’s nest so no other hens can interfere with her. This will pay off when the chicks start to hatch. The other hens will kill the chicks. The broody can’t defend them when she is still sitting on the remaining eggs, so the first ones to hatch wander away from her and get eaten as though they were a mouse. Perfectly natural behavior for chickens.

But if the broody has a wired off area around her nest, she can have a few days to bond with the chicks and teach them to obey her when she signals for them to come and hide underneath her. Then when you open up her wired area, she will teach those other hens in no uncertain terms that her chicks are off limits!

It is a beautiful thing to watch a hen raise chicks. If your rooster has the right personality, he will help her. That is really nice to watch as well.

Also, if possible, see if you can find another chicken keeper nearby who has an incubator you can borrow for backup, or who could take any unhatched but still viable eggs when the broody does get off the nest. I haven’t done this with chicken hens. Mine don’t seem to leave viable eggs in the nest. But I have saved a few goslings and turkey poults when their clueless mothers botched hatch day. I was able to put the leftover eggs into the incubator and get some to hatch.

Good luck!

 

[Yardmom]

I agree with @Finnie, except in my experience other hens do not kill chicks. They just ignore them. I have had plenty of chicks wander out before Mom is off the nest and be just fine. Of course it only takes one exception to this for there to be a problem.

 

[LaurenRitz]

If you have a chick heater or heating pad, set up a sort of tent with the heating pad on the outside. Adjust until it can maintain between 95 and 100 degrees. If she gets off the nest, put the remaining eggs in your hatching tent.

I have found that putting food and water close to the nest where the new babies can eat and drink but still be close to Mom, can sometimes keep her on the nest long enough to hatch the rest.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Question is, with as much as a 3-day difference in age, is momma going to hatch them all? Once they start popping out how will she control the live ones while still sitting on the later ones?

Assuming they are healthy and normal, a chick absorbs the yolk before it hatches. It should be able to live off of that yolk for more than 72 hours without eating or drinking. That way the first to hatch can wait on the later ones to hatch, within reason, and Mama does not need to lead any off of the nest to feed and water that soon after hatch.

I start all of my eggs at the same time, whether in the incubator or under a broody hen. Under a broody that is typically 12 eggs. Some of my hatches are over within 16 hours of the first one hatching and the broody hen brings them off of the nest. I often have broody hatches take about 36 hours from first hatch until she brings them off of the nest. My record under a broody was when the first one hatched late on a Monday and she did not bring them off of the nest until Friday morning, around 80 hours after the first one hatched. I was beginning to wonder but all of the chicks were fine. I do not put food or water near the nest so they did not eat or drink while waiting.

I went through all of that to show you how inconsistent they can be from hatch to hatch even with eggs from the same flock. I cannot tell you that they will all hatch. If some of your earlier eggs run late and the later eggs run early then you have a decent chance. If they are all on time I would not bet on it. I personally would not take that risk but some people do.

Good luck!

 

[Still Amateur]

Assuming they are healthy and normal, a chick absorbs the yolk before it hatches. It should be able to live off of that yolk for more than 72 hours without eating or drinking. That way the first to hatch can wait on the later ones to hatch, within reason, and Mama does not need to lead any off of the nest to feed and water that soon after hatch.

I start all of my eggs at the same time, whether in the incubator or under a broody hen. Under a broody that is typically 12 eggs. Some of my hatches are over within 16 hours of the first one hatching and the broody hen brings them off of the nest. I often have broody hatches take about 36 hours from first hatch until she brings them off of the nest. My record under a broody was when the first one hatched late on a Monday and she did not bring them off of the nest until Friday morning, around 80 hours after the first one hatched. I was beginning to wonder but all of the chicks were fine. I do not put food or water near the nest so they did not eat or drink while waiting.

I went through all of that to show you how inconsistent they can be from hatch to hatch even with eggs from the same flock. I cannot tell you that they will all hatch. If some of your earlier eggs run late and the later eggs run early then you have a decent chance. If they are all on time I would not bet on it. I personally would not take that risk but some people do.

Good luck!

I discovered the extra eggs yesterday and will be checking nightly now for new eggs in the clutch. I have distinct markings on all the eggs including a new marking on the surprise eggs. We have around 2.5 weeks to see what shakes out.