Hens lay fertile eggs without Rooster?

[Ol Grey Mare]

Okay, so I looked this question up. Because I have a hen that has been sitting on the nest all day, and we got rid of the Rooster about 8 months ago if not more. For some reason all my hens like to lay in the same nest...they have 5. And she has kicked everyone out. So can a hen get broody without a Roo?

Yes - hens can, and do, go broody without a rooster in the flock. Broodiness is purely hormonal on the part of the hen.

 

[aart]

Okay, so I looked this question up. Because I have a hen that has been sitting on the nest all day, and we got rid of the Rooster about 8 months ago if not more. For some reason all my hens like to lay in the same nest...they have 5. And she has kicked everyone out. So can a hen get broody without a Roo?

Yes, a hen can get broody without a rooster around...but the eggs won't be fertile.
Either get her some fertile eggs or break her of her broodiness.

Try putting a couple fake eggs and/or golf balls in all but one of the nests.....it can help 'spread the love'.
I like moving them around to see how well it works, it works good.

 

[cmom]

 

[Cole405]

You can't get an egg to hatch without a rooster.

 

[cmom]

You can't get an egg to hatch without a rooster.

I agree, but there are some that will swear they have had a female lay a fertile egg without a male but don't recall anyone hatching one.

 

[Chickywolf]

I only have 2 hens and one of them has become broody and stopped laying. Is there a way to um...snap her out of it? They have always shared one nest and still do, she just sits on the other one's egg until I remove it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[junebuggena]

Put her in a elevated wire crate about a foot off the ground, no bedding/nesting materials. Give her food and water and let her out once or twice a day. When you let her out, if she goes straight to the nest, put her back in the crate. If, after a few days, she stops going for the nest, you have succeeded in breaking her broodiness. Sometimes, when it's really warm out, keeping a fan on her will help keep her cool enough for the hormones to stop making her broody.

 

[aart]

I only have 2 hens and one of them has become broody and stopped laying. Is there a way to um...snap her out of it? They have always shared one nest and still do, she just sits on the other one's egg until I remove it. Any help would be appreciated.

junebuggena covered the gist succinctly....here's a pic of how I set mine up:

Added smaller wire on the bottom after taking the tray out and set it on a couple 4x4's.....added a nipple water bottle after pic was taken.
Only took 3 days but I caught her early.....had only been sitting 3 days.

 

[alleydebbie]

I just inquired about that because I just lost my rooster...he would not leave my small dogs alone and they ganged up on him! That was that! I wanted to know how many fertile eggs they would lay after being with the rooster and I found out that 3 to 4 weeks possibly. I LOVE this website!! I've learned all I know from it!!! This is my go to place when I have a question about chickens! My next question is, how many eggs does a chicken lay before she will start to set??? Any ideas?

 

[junebuggena]

I just inquired about that because I just lost my rooster...he would not leave my small dogs alone and they ganged up on him! That was that! I wanted to know how many fertile eggs they would lay after being with the rooster and I found out that 3 to 4 weeks possibly. I LOVE this website!! I've learned all I know from it!!! This is my go to place when I have a question about chickens! My next question is, how many eggs does a chicken lay before she will start to set??? Any ideas?

If she's still laying eggs, she's not broody yet. Leaving a bunch of eggs in a nest will not cause a hen to go broody. If a hen is broody, she will not move from the nest; it won't matter if there are eggs under her or not.