Broody Australorp - "how to" question??

[vwoods]

One of my Australorp girls is broody, I think. I had to pick her up and move her out of the nesting box 2 times yesterday. She actually growled at me!! I am glad she is ready to set but have questions. So here goes and if someone can give me an answer or direct me to another good post then that would be great. I don' t think she can cover too many eggs since she is on the small side but how many are too many and should I gather them for a few days and then put them under her so they will all hatch at the same time? And if I gather for a few days how should I store them? Refrig or not? I plan to seperate her from the others in a large dog crate inside my coop once we get started. Any info will be helpful and appreciated. Thanks...

 

[scooter147]

I would say any austrolop could easily cover 8 eggs.

Set the number of eggs you want to hatch under her all at one time. Store the eggs at room tempature on a plate or in a cardboard box on their "side" and rotate once a day.

I use the dog crate method and I let the hens out once a day for about a 1/2 hour to eat, drink and poo. I tried the food and water in the crate and almost everyday the hen had knocked over the water in attempt to get out. It just works better for me if I let them out once a day.

Hope this helps