hens abandoned her clutch of eggs for a second time?

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Anonymous

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hi,

i have a broody hen who hatched last year who has gone broody twice already this year. the first clutch she abandoned a week before hatch day and she has just done the same thing again to her second clutch. she had a break of about 3 weeks inbetween brooding.

does anybody know why she may be doing this?? thanks
 
Some hens are better than others, the instinct is very strong to sit, however some just don't quite see it through. It does take a lot out of hen to brood, even for a couple of weeks, so personally I would not let a hens sit twice in a season. If a hen fails the first time round I never let them sit again.

There are other reasons which prevent a hen from sitting, lice or red mite probably being high on the list. Broodies also have an innate abililty to detect whether the eggs are viable or not, and don't tend to sit on addled eggs.
 
Lice and red mite as Foxy says. Broody is on the nest 23 1/2 hours a day and if there are red mite in the box or surround, they will not only irritate her but drag her down due to the blood loss. The broody should be treated for lice before sitting and the nest box should be cleaned and treated for red mite. It's not a good idea to let them sit in the general nest box.
 
hi,

theres definately no red mite, she is in a seperate broody coop that i get out in the spring away from the others and i check for bugs etc as have had outbreaks in the past. i candled the eggs and all were fertile and developing with chicks inside. sadly the eggs were too cold to put in the incubator and there was no movement inside either. i think they had been left a few hours before i found them.

if i dont use her again and let her sit how will she learn what she is meant to do? i think she must just not be mothering material. its a shame to see eggs go cold that had chicks in.
 
You're right, some are not meant to be mothers and this applies to some breeds in particular.
 
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