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Hello, I put 4 egss under a broody hen yesterday, I tried to leave her alone to come out and eat with the rest of the hens however her eggs were in their own box. She sat on them quite happily overnight and when I put them in (roughly 18 hours of sitting on them) but when she came out for food she went back into the main coop and then while i was out she went back into the main coop again! All my other hens laid their eggs where she should have been so I know they won't have got too cold but they won't be at the temperature that they should have been at. My question is is that, because she probably sat on them for about 16-18hours I should think they'll have started devloping, becasue she left them and they went cold are they now no use? As in would they no longer be able to develop into chicks becasue they were left to get cold eventhough it was so early in the stage? Any advice would be a great help. Thank you

I would think that they will be no good now, it would have been a good idea to put her in a seperate broody cage away from all the others, how long was she sitting for before you put the eggs under her? I like to leave mine for a day or so on her own, sat on dummy eggs to make sure that she is serious about sitting before I put the eggs under her. Hope this helps.

I messed up in a very similar way. I've got a little broody hut and run in a quiet corner outside the run, but within the larger electric fence, and when one started sitting, i picked out the eggs I wanted her to brood, and put them under her, and shut the other hens out of the broody run. She sat for about a day and a half, and then left them, just pottered around the broody run. I've left those eggs in, in case she decides to start again (though if i had dummy eggs, i'd probably throw them away and put the dummies in) and opened the run door, so she can get into the main area. She's back in the main hen house with the others now, just spent one night on them. I will replace the old eggs with new eggs if she or another one goes broody. I hope I've done the right thing. At least we know our mistakes are shared!

Broody or not broody? Broody hens will start to spend alot of time in the egg boxes,only coming out to feed and drink also fluffing up their feathers and becoming more aggresive. I leave mine for upto a week if i want to use them, they should stay sitting even if sitting on nothing. I then transfer her to a broody box in the morning and give her a couple of marked old or boiled eggs to sit on. If everything is fine i give her a clutch of eggs in the evening to sit. This method works for me, my broody box has no run as they only need enough space to come off the nest to feed and drink and go to the loo, They have no contact with the other birds at this time, Hope this helps.

i will let you know on saturday or sunday as my broody did much the same in the first 24hours she left her nest and they went cold but got back on after a couple of hours
when my hens go broody i put them in a compleatly seperate stable to when the rest on my hens are ... so its nice and quiet and no one else can annoy and upset them ... i have 4 broodys in 1 stable now one of them has just hatched her brood a week ago and the other one is due sat the other 2 have just gone broody ..so its al go go go .. but they seem very happy :)
i also use dummy eggs for a few days just to see if they are really sure they want to be a proper broody ,
I have to agree with every thing Topflight has said .. i guess we all learn by our mistakes

I usually leave my little hen for a week or so to make sure she is broody. She is very difficult to break once she has decided she wants to sit so we usually give in and give here eggs. she has only failed once when all the eggs failed, perhaps she knew more than we did! She is sitting at the moment in a run inside the big run so that she is still in contact with the other hens, but they cannot boot her off the nest or disturb her. I usually take her off the nest in morning and evening to make sure she eats and empties or else she would just sit and not eat or drink!

When I candled the eggs, all 6 seem to be developing so fingers crosssed!

well my broody getting off her eggs at the beginning of her sit did not waist the eggs as i hear cheeps this morning :) will let you know what I have once she stops hatching : very excitied

good luck Riose! my orps are the same they go days with out getting off the first time one of mine went broody last year i got her off her nest every day ..this year i have left them to it and they all seem to get off when they are ready sometimes they sit for 2 days and not get off but they do eventually ...