3 hens, 4 chicks and a new silkie decides she wants to go broody & share the box!!

[goosiesnougs]

She has stayed in her own crate, and I gave her two xl eggs before I left for the gym. I tucked them under her, when I came home she was still in her own crate, but not on top of the eggs. When the others were broody they would roll the eggs under with their beaks/heads and tuck them good. The eggs were warm, so she may have gotten up to eat etc., but I'll have to keep watching her before I trust her with the $$ eggs!!

 

[Pork Pie]

i agree about keeping the incubator ready to go - if she's not fully ready to brood then you would be wasting money for sure!

Good luck

CT

 

[WVduckchick]

i agree about keeping the incubator ready to go - if she's not fully ready to brood then you would be wasting money for sure!

Good luck

CT

x2

 

[goosiesnougs]

So I don't know if I'm breaking chicken etiquette rules, but I did the unthinkable! The broody was not setting the 2 xl eggs I gave her, so I had 4 downstairs that were fertile for my flock.. Little silkie eggs. The others won't sit on golf balls so my thinking is maybe she knew they weren't hers I gave them to her to sit on until Tuesday when the eggs arrive! I'll check them for veins and if she has kept them viable I'll discard them and give her some of the expensive eggs. My 12 year old is horrified. Is this totally wrong? They will only be cells in 4 days with veins.. RIGHT

 

[Pork Pie]

Nah, your totally fine with your plan - just discard the eggs when she's done sitting on them.

CT

 

[goosiesnougs]

She seems to know the difference between her eggs and the ones from the fridge

. I checked her this morning (& gave her another egg too) she was giving me the same silkie "growl" that the the others had two weeks ago
Thank you for telling me it's ok to discard the eggs... I was feeling guilty about it! The only thing that rots is I was saving them for an eBay auction. It will have to be next week.