Good morning, i have a calico princess hen (about 2 yrs old ) who just wont get over being broody ( i have tired everything ), so i give up and am planning to let her try to hatch some eggs. since she is a 1st time mom and this is my 1st time letting chicks hatch(we always buy chicks from TS) hit me with all the advise. we are gonna give her 3 real eggs and 3 fake eggs to sit on but what else can i do to help her and help insure at least 1 baby... stock pic to show her breed
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I would try to give her at least 2 babies- I would do 5-6 real eggs under mama. If by any chance they all do hatch, you can always rehome the ones you don't want to keep.
There isn't much for you to do when Mama incubates her own eggs besides make sure she is taken care of, like getting up to eat and drink everyday. I always get my broody girls up when I'm in there so I can physically see them eating and drinking.
Candle the eggs around day 7- this is where you get a flashlight and hold up to the top of the egg whichever way it was positioned in the nest. - I use my iphone flashlight all the time to candle eggs outside and it works perfectly- by day 7 you will see veins in the eggs that are developing.
Toss the ones that are not developing if mama didn't toss them out already by then. I always candle them every couple of days when they sit on them.
When they are a few days away from hatching, if mama won't get up you can bring her food and water to ensure she is getting both. Once she gets off the nest after hatching, just check for unhatched eggs and pips- candle again and watch for movement.
If there is a pip on an egg, and movement inside put the egg back. I always check those again before bed, then morning, and again that afternoon- if no progress has been made hatching for 24 hours- I always assist. That needs to be done very slowly and carefully, myself or someone on here can walk you through that if it comes to it.
