Poultry and Pets > The Hen House

How long can a broody hen leave her eggs unattended?

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pandora:
Oh gosh, Mrs Partridge got her nests muddle up twice while she was sitting on eggs, and one time we think she was on the wrong nest for about 4 or 5 hours (was in the summer though.) She went on to hatch 7 chicks from the 12 eggs she was sitting on.

On the other hand, my incubator broke on day 17 with 11 fertile eggs in it. It took me about 10 hours to get them into another incubator (I had to ring round friends to find one,) and only 2 of the eggs hatched, the rest dead in shell.

I think if she has only been off for a little while they will be OK. You only have 5 days or so to wait to find out.

muntjac:
when a chuck lays eggs she will usually lay the full clutch before she " sets 2 down to incubate  as aggy said blossom was a great mom , but it really depends on what the outside temp is whether a clutch will survive  :wink:

Elvis and the Girls:
Just a quick update for those of you kind enough to reply.
Well we managed to catch the "broody" buff  and put her back on the egss and since then we have kept her boxed in, letting her out for half  an hour morning and evening but only in the shed and run (no free roaming for now), she seems to have gone back into broody mode or "the zone" as I call it and infact this morning refused to get off the eggs, not sure if that is a good sign or not.
Today is D day ...or Tuesday is depending who has the better memory me  or OH !
Fingers crossed  :D

Vember:
Got everything crossed for you :D

Maybe she's sitting tight because she an hear them cheeping ????




Sarah :)

Kate and her Ducks:
Good luck,

Will keep everything crossed for you and the little ones :lol:

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