Broody hens do and will leave the eggs for a small amount of time. They will leave to eat, drink and defecate. They will usually do this when things in the coop are calm and quiet. If a hen remains off the nest for more than an hour or so then there may be a problem. The incubating eggs cannot be allowed to cool more than a few degrees and the hen instinctively knows this. If your hen has left the nest for more than two hours you should remove the eggs and artificially incubate as soon as possible. 100.5 F with a humidity of 60% will work fine.
A hen who wants nothing more out of life than to set on her (or other hens) eggs is called a "broody hen," and the behavior is called, being "broody".
Remove the eggs. You can replace them with eggs you know are from another bird who was active with a rooster. Your broody hen won't care.
Broody hens do lay eggs. They actually lay one [1] egg every day or two.
yes.
28 days
The hen is likely broody, which means she is trying to hatch her eggs. She will sit on the nest to keep the eggs warm and may squawk to protect them. It is a natural behavior for hens to be protective of their eggs and offspring.
No. A broody hen is a broody hen and will sit on golf balls once the urge to nest takes her. Hens do not instinctively know if the eggs they are brooding are fertile or not. Hens in a chicken coop without a rooster among the flock will still go broody.
Yes, you can keep a broody hen broody after 21 days by allowing her to continue sitting on the eggs. It's important to provide her with food, water, and a secluded nest area to keep her comfortable. However, if you don't want her to continue brooding, you can gently remove her from the nest and separate her from the eggs.
A broody chicken is when a hen decides to sit on her eggs... even if there is no rooster around, and even if the eggs belong to a bunch of random chickens on the flock... they will just sit on the eggs hoping to hatch them out, i guess.
I doubt it. Not if she left for 8 hours.
An individual hen will go"broody" and will gather a clutch of eggs to brood. These will not always be her own eggs. She will steal them from other hens by rolling them into the nest she has chosen. Unless the hen is broody she will lay her egg and leave the nest announcing loudly to the rest of the flock what she has accomplished. Hens can go broody whether there is a rooster in the flock or not, so no, not just fertile eggs trigger the brooding instinct.
Every half hour or so, a broody hen will shift her weight, therefore, turning the eggs beneath her.