Broody Australorp - Time to buy fertilized eggs?

Hi Everyone,

We incubated last year and now have a mixed backyard trio: Wellsummer, Light Sussex and Australorp. All full-size. The Australorp is broody and my kids want to give her fertilized eggs to hatch.

I have a few questions:
- will she stay broody for another 3 days til I get the eggs?
- do we have to separate her/them when the chicks hatch (I hope not... They have a big yard, and enough room in the coop)
- can I get bantams this time?
- how many eggs should I get if I want 2-3 more girls? (I'm thinking 6, or should ( get 8?)

Thanks for any advice!! Hatching last year was way more work than I expected. I'm hoping this will be easier??

-Maya

I've only ever hatched using a teeny silkie so can't answer most of your questions but yes,if she is broody she will wait the extra 3 days. I just put 2-3 eggs from the fridge under mine till the real ones arrived then threw those out.

She will stay broody to 21 days if you let her, until she gets chicks. You should separate her from the flock until a couple days after the eggs hatch. You can out up to 12 eggs under her. Yes, she will raise bantams.

Congrats on the broody! You should be fine to get bantams, just be aware that they will be at a disadvantage in the pecking order to the big girls and might be lower in the order because of that. She should stay broody for the three days, just let her sit on some infertile eggs and then switch them out for the fertile ones. For 2-3 more girls, you'll probably want to go with six to eight eggs, allowing for the fact that half will hatch male and some might die before hatch. If you're getting shipped eggs, get twice this because you're doing pretty good if you get a 50% hatch rate on shipped eggs.

You can also check out this article, hopefully it will help you out:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/guide-to-letting-broody-hens-hatch-and-raise-chicks

I don't give the hen the eggs I want her to hatch until she's been broody at least 48 hours. To me, that means sleeping on the nest two nights in a row. Sometimes hens will ease into being broody, spending all day on the nest, growling, etc....but still roost at night. I'll leave bait eggs there during that time to encourage her, but until I'm sure she's tight on that nest night and day she doesn't get the real deal.

I have my broody hens hatch in the coop probably 85% of the time and have no issues. A large space is key here, the chicks have to have space to get away from the mature hens. Broody momma is usually hormonal enough no one messes with her babies. My only issues have been a very, very Omega hen brooding at the same time as an Alpha hen, when the chicks hatched the Alpha tried to kill them. Otherwise, the hens look at the babies and sometimes give them a peck or two, but no biggie. The babies run screaming back to momma, who basically says "I told you to stay out of her way" and everyone's good.

I've always had bantam hens raising large fowl chicks, never the other way around. But, I do have bantam littles out of the brooder in a pen with large hens with no problems. I don't see why you couldn't get bantam eggs for her. Myself, I'd go with an even dozen, cause I'm greedy . But if you place a dozen, say 8-10 hatch, half of those are males, that could easily knock you down to your three more pullets. Just prepare the kiddos from the start that all the birds won't be living happily ever after with you and you can sell off the extras after she weans them.

Incubating and brooding is so much easier with a broody hen! She does all the work, and is thrilled to do it. Plus, IMO nothing in the chicken world is better than watching a momma introduce her babies to the world. And seeing a chick riding on momma's back is priceless!

Our Broody One is committed and we're getting eggs today. Do we let the eggs "settle" before we slip them under her? It's going to be quite warm today, less so tomorrow and then perfect warm weather the rest of the week.

Also, she's nesting next to the perch and not in the nesting box. (we have one of those cheap coops you get from EBay) The other two hens are roosting basically on top of her, is that ok? Are they trying to be protective?? Now that I think about it, she is facing the perch, about the same height, and her beak is probably between them. I ask because I tried moving the perchers off her the other night and they all returned back to the same spot the next night.

I could try to move her to the nesting box, which is raised a couple inches, but I really think she will move the eggs back to her spot. It's amazing she's collected 5 eggs under her already, all different ones. It's good to know she's letting the other girls lay, I guess!

We're getting bantam sussex and bantam wyandottes. So excited!

Hard to picture what you mean but if they are above her won't they be pooping on her and the eggs for the next three weeks, and then on her and the chicks?

In the nest box is also not ideal as the others will lay in there too and can break eggs climbing in and around and over her.

There is also no guarantee the other two won't attack and kill the chicks when they hatch if you have them all in together in a small coop so be prepared for that.

I seperate mine into another adjacent run for nesting up till the chicks are about 7 -8 weeks old and then reintroduce them, many people hatch them in the main coop but I suspect the small size of yours may be an issue though.

Yes let the eggs rest for 12 hrs, might not be that nescesary but it won't hurt either unless they were posted, then its very important they rest for 24 hrs