Advice on first time letting broody chic do her thing

[Nate in WI]

thanks all!

 

[Nate in WI]

OK update and question. So it's getting warm here in east central WI. Yesterday one of the same type of chickens as last year (black sex link) was "broody" - or so I thought.. she was a statue on 1 egg for about 3 hours.. so I thought if she was still there and didnt perch with other chickens I'd start moving all chickens out of that coop except her.
But by 6pm she was off and joining other chickens in field to eat... left her one egg cold behind.
So Question - was she broody and moved away b/c disturbed by other chickens around her in coop (cuz others were laying eggs and coming and going).. OR was she not really broody but just there laying an egg for 3 hours?

Thanks in advance! Really want to have little ones this year!

 

[NatJ]

OR was she not really broody but just there laying an egg for 3 hours?

She was not really broody, but she might be thinking about it.

A hen can probably sit on 6-12 eggs, possibly a few more. Smaller numbers are fine, but don't give her so many they stick out around the edges and get cold. It's best to give her the eggs all at once, so all the chicks hatch at once. If you give her more eggs each day, you will have chicks hatching on many different days-- which is a problem, because caring for chicks is different than sitting on eggs, and the hen cannot do both at the same time.

You can wait until a hen goes broody, then collect eggs over the next few days, then give her the eggs all at once.

Or if you want to hatch eggs from just a few specific hens, I suggest you start collecting eggs now, and keep them safely in your house. If a hen goes broody, wait until she's been on the nest for at least 2 nights as well as days, then give her the eggs.

If you write a date on each egg (pencils or crayons work fine), you will know which are the best choices for hatching: up to one week old, possibly up to 2 weeks. Eggs that are "too old" for hatching are still fine to eat.

By collecting them in advance, you can have a nice clutch saved up for when a hen goes broody, even if you are only collecting from one or two hens.

 

[Nate in WI]

So if this hen goes broody again.. from the current day there are 8-12 eggs.. when i see her get a little broody I'll place 6-8 eggs under her, isolate her, and leave her alone? Can I leave those 6-8 eggs in that same box and see if she gets broody next day (assuming she left them the previous day)?

Thanks Nat great advice... : )

 

[3KillerBs]

So if this hen goes broody again.. from the current day there are 8-12 eggs.. when i see her get a little broody I'll place 6-8 eggs under her, isolate her, and leave her alone? Can I leave those 6-8 eggs in that same box and see if she gets broody next day (assuming she left them the previous day)?

Thanks Nat great advice... : )

Let her sit on fake eggs or golf balls until you're SURE she's broody then give her the good eggs all at once.

 

[NatJ]

So if this hen goes broody again.. from the current day there are 8-12 eggs.. when i see her get a little broody I'll place 6-8 eggs under her, isolate her, and leave her alone? Can I leave those 6-8 eggs in that same box and see if she gets broody next day (assuming she left them the previous day)?

I agree with @3KillerBs
Let the hen have some fake eggs or golf balls or something to sit on until you are sure she is broody. Then give her the eggs you want hatched.

(If you don't have fake eggs, you could mark a few real eggs and use those, but expect they will NOT hatch if the hen is sitting intermittently. So when she is serious about being broody, discard the marked ones, and give her a new set of good eggs to actually incubate and hatch.)