[ladyhotspur]

  Hi what a lot of great info here.

Some advice please. I have one broody hen, shes been like it for about a month now and has roughly 15 eggs she is sat on. We seperated her from the others last week but shes still able to see the others when she ventures out and has access to water and food.
We arent sure what to do now as nothing is happening. She is a grumpy moo and we dont wanna upset her too much but sooner or later shes gonna have to return to her posse! How do we go about this the best way?

[joyfull]

Are the eggs fertile? 15 really is too many IMO. If not fertile then remove the eggs and shut her out of her nesting area.

[ladyhotspur]

We've had our girls for a while and this is the first broody hen we have had so I'm not sure if they are fertile. What is the best way to find out? As she has a seperate nesting area at present how do I prevent her from camping back in her old nesting box with the others? I did think 15 was a bit excessive!
Grateful for any advice

[Vember]

Have you got a male chicken running with the hens?

[snowflake]

how long has she been sitting on the eggs?

[ladyhotspur]

Yes we have a cockerel with our hens (Dexter) and she has been on the eggs for at least 4 weeks now it may be bit longer

[Kate and her Ducks]

Sorry, I don't think they are going to hatch as they should have hatched at about day 21. There can be a bit of variability as they sometimes don't sit consistently enough at the begining to get theings going but a month is a really long time for her. You can candle them to see if things have developed in the egg (there are loads of pictures on the net if you just google candling eggs. Think it is time to either kick her off or give her some chicks if you can buy any day olds or there abouts.

[ladyhotspur]

Thanks for the advice. I didnt really want any chicks anyway it was the kids

[snowflake]

with 15 eggs she may not have been able to keep them all warm and its a lot for her to turn. Next time try 6-8 eggs best if she is away from the others so shes not tempted to collect their eggs as well as move nest box.  Yes children love chicks and its good for them to learn how a hen grows.

[oddpaws]

Did you check if the eggs were likely to be fertile before she sat on them? How old is the cockerel? Its always a bit of a gamble with hatching eggs

[snowflake]

is she still sitting on the eggs?

[oddpaws]

 What is the best way to find out?

When we had our broody I pulled a couple of eggs and broke them into a glass bowl. In the yolk you will see a white spot, if the spot is like a bulls eye (sort of ringed the egg is fertile if it is just a spot it is not. I am told that after mating  with the cockerel the eggs will remain fertile for two weeks after that. I just had to assume that our cockerel was servicing all our girls and four out of our five eggs hatched.

If I am wron about any of this I know someone will correct me

[ladyhotspur]

Well this morning after returning from a weekend away I went to our broody gal (who we were gonna sort out today) and there were two little yellow heads looking out! I'm in shock but fell in love with them immediately  :happy:.
Now there are other eggs in the nest box, should I remove these, are they likely to hatch?
Will the chicks venture out today, I guess a trip to scats to get chick crumbs is in order.
Any info much appreciated!

[joyfull]

Hi great news  . Make sure mum has water available close by, if it's in a shallow dish then put marbles in it to make sure the chicks don't drown. Leave mum on the other eggs for a another day or two. She may be able to feel them moving inside the shells so will want to stay on them. Get your chick crumbs and mum will know what to do 

[ladyhotspur]

  totally unprepared for the arrivals, thanks for the advice.

They are all in an old rabbit hutch now should I put the chicks food and water just inside for them to access?

Am sure this wont be my last enquiry!