More broody hen advice

[Wild Iris]

I have an OEGB hen--about 8 months old--who went broody about a month ago. She stayed broody even though I moved the entire flock & coop into a new location. She gets off the nest twice a day to eat and drink, sometimes staying off for as much as 30 minutes at a time. I try to make sure I see her eating and drinking each time. I have let her have her own way in this because it was her first time and I was curious how it would go, but we haven't had any fertile eggs for her to hatch. Just this week I have put in a young rooster in with the 7 hens. He is behaving well, calls them to eat treats, is quick & gentle in his mating, etc.

Would it be a bad idea to put a couple (potentially) fertilized eggs under the broody OEGB? Would she stay on them until they hatch, or has she already been broody so long that she's likely to stop soon? (Or should I remove her nesting box until she stops being broody?) I would be happy for her to raise a few chicks--we have plenty of space for them--but I don't want her to become unhealthy & I would prefer she not abandon half-incubated eggs.

 

[K0k0shka]

It's not good for the hen to allow her to continue brooding if you don't intend for her to hatch any eggs. You should have broken her right at the start if you didn't plan to hatch eggs. Even if she gets off to eat and drink once or twice a day, that's not enough to sustain her for long periods of time. It's only enough to barely survive until the chicks hatch, and her body expects (and needs) to replenish depleted resources after that, by returning to normal life - normal eating and moving around. Chickens don't eat 3 square meals a day like we do - their crops and gizzards hold only small amounts of food at a time, so they need to eat small amounts here and there all throughout the day, in order to get enough nutrition. A hen sitting in a nest for weeks or months at a time is slowly starving herself and getting weaker and weaker. Some of them will give up after a while, but some will brood themselves to death. You have already done this one a disservice by letting her starve for no reason during this whole month. Giving her eggs now and allowing her to continue wasting away for another 3 weeks is only going to make it worse. For her sake, break her properly (look up breaking a broody - there's tons of information both on BYC and beyond), and give the eggs to a fresh broody, or to the incubator.

 

[Wild Iris]

Thank you for weighing in.

I understand that it's difficult on the hen. I've read the threads; I've used the search fuction. It's neither foolish or nor careless of me to want to know whether a particular young hen would stay broody for a full 3 weeks the very first time she goes broody; I need to know the individual chickens I'm dealing with in my own flock. Obviously I am hesitant to let it continue, otherwise I wouldn't have asked the question or voiced conerns about her health.

I've logged your vote as, "Break her out of broody."

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Our first broody was a young broody-- Orpington and maybe 20 weeks old. and we didn't have a rooster or want chicks at that time and broke her via a wire dog crate within the coop.

If she's been on there for 3 weeks, it'll take another 3 weeks just to hatch the eggs if you get her some and that would/could be detrimental to her health.

I'm in the vote of breaking her for her health, for what it's worth

ETA: and a new rooster can take up to a week or two for fertilized eggs

 

[sdm111]

Not a bad idea, but I would put only fertilized under her. If you have 2 remove the others and only put the 2 under. She should stay setting. The older unfertilized eggs may rot or bust and infect the good eggs

 

[Wild Iris]

ETA: and a new rooster can take up to a week or two for fertilized eggs

Thank you! This is helpful.

 

[sdm111]

36hrs from mounting to a fertilized egg

 

[sdm111]

Also a hen can lay fertilized eggs up to 2 weeks after a mounting. To be sure let them mate about 6 to 7 days or so after the first 36hours and that should be enough foe a cluch

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Thank you! This is helpful.

I guess I should clarify, a new cockerels learning to be a rooster. There can be misses. I watched our male mount our girls yet even after five days not all their eggs were fertilized

 

[Yardmom]

Hens who have been sitting for long periods do give up and break broodiness on their own. I would be surprised if she sat for a full 3 or 4 weeks longer.
It is time to break her broodiness for this round. There is a good chance of her becoming broody again.