Hen building a clutch without fertile eggs?

[rockportdawn]

I have a young adult Bourbon Red hen who has built a large clutch and is now sitting on it times 3 days. I thought we had lost her a few days ago only to find her quietly on a well camoflaged nest. The kicker is we have no tom anywhere. I guess that I didn't think she would make a clutch unless she was being fertilized...hmm?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Nope, they do it based on hormones, not whether eggs are viable. Often clutches are made from eggs of different hens so it is not necessary to base it off of one's own mating behavior.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Some birds will even sit with no eggs at all.
A friend had two hens and no tom. They were broody all the time and they even hatched some of my chicken eggs for me.
The tragedy was that she would never try to break the hens' broodiness. Eventually one of the hens couldn't move and was wasting away. $3,000 of vet bills later and a couple months of physical therapy, the hen died anyway.
pet people