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When do hens start sitting on eggs?

post #1 of 6
12/29/10 at 6:39pm
Thread Starter 

Im not planning on hatching any, but im just wondering.
All my girls are about 6.5 months old. They started laying about a month ago, but my EEs just started, if it matters.

My "farm" includes: 4 EEs- Pacobean, Big Girl, Little Girl, and Lil Roo, 1 BO- Omelet, 1 Domonique, 1 RIR- Red, one hyperactive border collie- Rex
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My "farm" includes: 4 EEs- Pacobean, Big Girl, Little Girl, and Lil Roo, 1 BO- Omelet, 1 Domonique, 1 RIR- Red, one hyperactive border collie- Rex
R.I.P Duck Duck the Chicken who was actually a turkey, I love you forever
Follow Little Roos road to manhood at http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=376950
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post #2 of 6
12/29/10 at 6:48pm

Only if and when they get the notion to.  Some breeds are more prone to going 'broody', others just about NEVER do.  (the broody trait has been bred out of many production layer breeds. Broody hens don't lay while broody and for some time afterward.)

It's a hormonal thing, really...and if the 'mood strikes', they'll go broody and want to sit.  Age doesn't have much to do with it... some have laid one egg and gone broody nearly immediately after that.  Others will never go broody their entire lives.

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post #3 of 6
12/29/10 at 6:49pm

if they are a broody type chicken they will probably start sitting after laying about 12 or 13 eggs, they should not be allowed to try to hatch all of them, i have found that their first try is not very successful, i would leave them 4 or 5,,,, if you wanted babies jumpy:

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Ask not what the Animals can do for you...
But what you can do for the Animals
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post #4 of 6
12/29/10 at 8:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silkie Sue 

if they are a broody type chicken they will probably start sitting after laying about 12 or 13 eggs, they should not be allowed to try to hatch all of them, i have found that their first try is not very successful, i would leave them 4 or 5,,,, if you wanted babies jumpy:


Oh, <expletive deleted>. My second time mother silkie is on 25 because she co-owns a terracotta pot with my partridge. That said, she is quite a flattened chicken (eta blame it on my rooster) and can easily fit them all under smile

[i]n [D]eepest [C]onfidence-

..::M.a.G.i.C. P.i.G.e.O.n::.. =]
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[i]n [D]eepest [C]onfidence-

..::M.a.G.i.C. P.i.G.e.O.n::.. =]
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post #5 of 6
3/24/12 at 2:59pm

i have black sex-link chickens will they sit. i have 3 hens and 1 roo the hens what lay all the eggs an one nest box i put eggs in the other ones but they still go to  the one what shuld i do so they can start to sit on them

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post #6 of 6
3/25/12 at 5:32am
I had a couple go broody or would have gone broody before they turned 1. The oldest 3 just turned 1 this past week!

I have one hen, my oldest EE lay on every single egg that's laid until I come and get it. She kicks the other hen off before they are done "resting" and checking over what they laid. My EE immediately cleans the others hens egg and lays on top.

I grab the eggs through out the day. Not all of mine sing the egg song after laying, just a couple do, so I keep a mental track of their schedule and grab them right away.

I spend a lot of time with my hens, they have been a blessing to me.
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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying › When do hens start sitting on eggs?