Adding more eggs to a broody - time limits?

[Battlepants]

Had my first hen go broody yesterday and deciding to let her go through with the process of trying to hatch. Gave her a clutch of 3 eggs from my flock that actually has a rooster but considering giving her a couple more from one particular hen that I think would make excellent dual purpose offspring (hen: RIR, roo:Australorp). Being that this is only one hen adding eggs, I can't expect a huge cluster of eggs right away from here. So my question - how long can I add eggs to this clutch before I should stop? Can I realistically go 3-4 days to try to get her up to a total of 6?

 

[Percheron chick]

Probably no. The hatch will be strung out 4-5 days and most hens will give up on the stragglers day 2-3. You can always have an incubator on standby to finish up any eggs.

 

[Battlepants]

Good to know. I'll probably just give her todays harvest as well and just let the situation roll from there. That would put all eggs under her laid in about a 24 time span.

 

[Yardmom]

It is not about when they are laid. It is about when they are started under the broody. When you have certain eggs you want hatched it is best to give the hen fake or disposal eggs until you have the eggs you want to hatch. Then make the switch (I wouldn't go more than 10 days). If you really want to add eggs 4 days after first eggs are started, have her nest where you can lock her in a space large enough to put chick food and water, but to small for the hen to get up and take a walk. It is always good to have an incubator handy for when things don't go as planned.