9 eggs and not broody yet.

[justsam]

Hi everyone !
I'm new here and to chicken life.
I have a RIR hen. She has had one set of babies and was a good mommy. 5 out of 6 hatched in June and still live on.
So I put her back in with her boyfriend and they have be *ahem* enjoying each other.
Now the eggs are coming. 9 so far in 11 days.
Now isn't it 21 days from incubation till hatching?
Another dumb question. Does incubation mean when she has gone broody or when they got laid?
And with that many eggs shouldnt she be broody by now?
The pile is soooooooo huge now and it's not cold outside because I live in Florida but it gets darn chilly some nights.
When will she go broody? I'm worried I don't have a big fancy incubator and don't really have the money for one and my other chickens are all only like 6 months and I don't think they will set on them yet.
Thank you for your advise!!!

 

[FarmGirl01]

What I would do is mark the eggs when they are laid. When she goes broody, I will take out the old eggs and let her set on the freshest eggs. They will have a better chance than older eggs. The incubation start when she goes broody. If she goes broody, on say Friday at noon, then Saturday at noon is Day 1.

She may not go broody every time. Some do and some don't.

 

[gryeyes]

I think you were really lucky in having your RIR girl go broody at ALL - they're not known as being a broody breed. Some folks have never had a broody hen in their flocks, even if their hens ARE of a breed commonly known to go broody.

I wouldn't hold any eggs for hatching by hen until she is actually broody. Then I'd give her some or let her hatch those she wants to hatch. Your other hens may or may not be brooders - if you got your birds from a feed store or a hatchery, they've been bred to be egg layers, and broody hens interfere with egg production. They don't lay eggs when broody or when raising the chicks, so that's at least two, maybe three months without any eggs from that hen.

 

[justsam]

well how long should i wait to see if she does go broody? she was such a good mommy the first time!! i just cant imagine her ignoring them completely. how long do typical chickens go before they get broody after they start being sexually active and start laying? thanks for the time!

 

[justsam]

oh and are these eggs still okay to eat if they are 12 days or so old some of them? how do you tell if the egg is ok to eat still or not? if not safe for humans can i feed them back to my chickens or dog?

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

Do the water test, place them in a bowl of cool water. If the eggs sink they are still good, if they sink and stand at attention they need to be used asap (baking or cook and feed) if they float toss them away.

 

[justsam]

omg wow i have never heard of that before, cool trick!!! thanks a lot