I said on another thread that the three eggs I'd been expecting weren't successful. I've been trying to figure out what might have happened, and
I'm led to the thought that it might have been my intervention.
Twig had a clutch of eggs before these, but the nest box was in the wrong place in the coop and got pulverised (one day they were there the next day they'd
disappeared). Twig had been laying these for a few days already and moved onto another nest under which I placed four eggs (only one got pulversied). Thinking
that maybe she's been sitting on the nest too long already and also having read something about "if the chicken don't come off their nest provide
them with food and drink". I took the advice as last year we had a chiken die of dehydration after sitting on the nest for too long.
To cut a long strory short I think that by introducing water to her at her nest I might have interfered with her body temperature and so that of the eggs too.
I might be wrong, but this is the one thing that stands out and it was something I was had doubts about when I started too.
I'm wondering if this is possible?
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Oh dear... was it me?
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 treegod |
Oh dear... was it me? |
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Posts: 28 08/18/09 09:11 AM |
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tuffoldhen |
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Posts: 2012 08/18/09 01:04 PM |
Not sure, My Broodies always have food and water close by and if I don't think they have gotten up to eat, drink or poo sometimes I remove them from the
nest or cage for a few minutes and then place them back on. I've never had problems like you are describing.
~ ~ Blue/Black/Splash Orpingtons, Black Orpingtons and Light Brahmas ~ ~
~~~~~ Project Lavender Orpingtons and Split Black Lav Orps ~~~~~~ |
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robin416 |
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Posts: 4379 08/18/09 02:01 PM |
No, you sort of didn't do the wrong thing if the water wasn't so close she didn't have to get up out of the nest to get to it.
I would suggest you candle the eggs she's on to see if they are even developing. Hen hatched eggs are usually the easiest to get to hatch. Something else is going on here. |
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treegod |
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Posts: 29 08/19/09 02:35 AM |
I think that while I gave her water at her nest she was also getting of her nest when I wasn't there. Recently she's been swapping nests with another
broody chicken, so I know when they're in different places they've been moving. She's hatched eggs before and I haven't had to water her
before, she's done that herself.
I did check the development and they grew well for a while (except one). A few days ago I opened them (after day 21) and they had dead chicks in them, still with yolk attached so they'd died a week or so before hatching I'd guess. I've had another thought, after reading an article from here about dry incubating. Perhaps the hen was getting sufficient water anyway and by giving her more water it was making the conditions of the nest too moist. Apparently it can drown the chicks some how. I shall have to give it another read. I suppose I feel it was my own intervention because this hen has hatched successfully before and the only thing that stands out as different from other occasions is me giving her water. It's a learning experience, I think I'll learn to trust my chicken's instinct. I prefer it that way, more natural. |
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robin416 |
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Posts: 4381 08/19/09 05:51 AM |
That pertains to artificial incubation, not to a broody doing the hatching. The setter has autonomic settings that keep eggs at the proper temp and humidity.
None of us withhold water or feed from our broodies and still fill our coops beyond capacity using our hens.
She needs to be some place where others can't get at the nest and where she can't keep getting confused about which nest she's setting on. Candle your eggs after ten days. Check to see if they are even developing. |
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treegod |
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Posts: 30 08/20/09 03:18 AM |
"That pertains to artificial incubation, not to a broody doing the hatching."
I know what it pertains to, but the same principles still work I'd imagine. Think about this; my hen, without me knowing it, gets up and waters and feeds herself (and she does, really), and gets just the right amount of both to maintain body heat and moisture and stay healthy and alive. I come along and give her even more, which somehow inteferes with body moisture and/or temperature and so with the development of the chicks in the egg. Really, I don't know that much about chicken biology, I'm just hypothesising, considering the possibility. If the eggs don't develop fully this time in the same way then I'll know it's probably to do with Twig (she is old bless her) or the environment in general. Fact is Twig is intelligent enough to look after herself and the eggs at the same time. Some other chicken aren't, like the one last year. "None of us withhold water or feed from our broodies and still fill our coops beyond capacity using our hens." Nor do I (now), they just get up and take it for themselves. If they don't, well, now I've learnt that some individual chicken need extra help, not a trait I want to breed into my flock though. "She needs to be some place where others can't get at the nest and where she can't keep getting confused about which nest she's setting on." So far that's not a real problem. The two broodies we have at the moment they swap nests but as long as all the eggs are set and they hatch with a hen I don't see the problem. Ivy and Twig have both sort of "co-mothered" together before, so confusion between these two is quite welcome lol. Still, me and my girlfriend are considering building two little "chambers" for broody hens, make things a bit simpler at least. "Candle your eggs after ten days. Check to see if they are even developing." I did the 10 day thing and then after reading something recently decided to do a 7 and 14 day thing. I have poor candling equipment (if you can call a small book-light and a piece of cardboard with a hole "equipment" lol) but they all seem to be developing something. It's an adventure, each year we make mistakes but each year we improve on them. Which is cool 
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- General and Social Discussion
- Disease, Cures and Emergencies!
- Eggs to Hatch and Beyond
- Chicken Behaviors
- Coops and Runs
- Predators and Pests
- Poultry show and swap meet listings
- Buy ~ Sell ~ Trade ~ Giveaways
- Breeds in General
- Breeders & Backyard Hatcheries
- Meat Birds and Other Poultry
- reference material, med and disease info
- Egg & Chicken Recipes
- Notable Archives
