Broody hen?

I have noticed our cockerel has been trying to "tread" (I think that is the correct term ) some of our hens recently, and now we have one of our marans sitting on eggs. We tried to candle them (with a torch ) the other night to see whether they were likely to have chicks growing in them or not, but couldn't really tell one way or the other.

For the hen experts - is there any other way of finding out whether the hen is wasting her time or whether we may be due some cute and fluffy chicks (we worked out they should be due to hatch by about the 1st March).

Marans eggs are quite dark, aren't they... if they are anything like Welsummer/Barnevelder eggs, they are nigh on impossible to candle

You may have success if you invest in/borrow etc a candling torch - high intesnsity for dark eggs - as these are much more powerful than normal torches.

However, she'll need to be sitting on them for at least 10 days before you get any embryonic development that's visible.

If you do want her to hatch, then she'll need to be kept secure and away from the rest of the flock with food and water close to hand. She'll probably only get off her nest once a day, and won't go far. Broodies lose condition pretty quickly because of this.

Cockerels tend to be in their 'prime' in their 2nd year, so if he is a very young boy (i.e. hatched last year) he may not be properly mating yet - they jump on and have a go, but aren't always successful.

Thanks for all that info Iso, really interesting and useful stuff. Will see if I can find someone with a candling torch. She is separate from the others and we are making sure she has food and water. I haven't seen her move off the nest yet at all.

Our cock is probably about 4 or 5 years old now, so not a young bird.

She may move off the nest very early morning/late evening, so you might not see her!

You may need to monitor the food water levels to check whether she is eating/drinking. If they are not going down, you should lift her gently off the nest (checking none of the eggs are under her wings) and put her in front of the food - she should take the hint! However, she won't like you doing this!

Just as a precaution - once a broody is sitting, they can get very defensive. If you do feel the need to check the eggs under her, try and do it in the dark for least disturbance. My last broody was absolutely horrible! I got attacked every time I went to check - which was twice a day (morning and evening). I would be careful letting Ben near her if she gets this way - I had small cuts all over my hands from her rather sharp beak!

Thanks again Here's hoping she does manage to hatch some out. The children would love looking after chicks! We did try to candle the eggs at night, and she was a bit on the defensive, but not too bad. We keep giving her food and water and she eats/drinks while we watch her, so at least we know she is getting something.