broody bantam?

[kiwi-chookn]

Hi guys.Im new here.
I have 11 chooks,mostly chinese bantys,the red coloured ones with a topknot.
One is laying and Im wondering when she may go broody.
Do they start laying eggs,maybe one per day as she has been,till they get a decent sized clutch then start sitting all the time.
She lays then stays off the nest till the next day/egg.
Should I be using the eggs or leaving them there till she has enough then sits?
Im just wondering as I have been taking the eggs and letting her lay more,but I want her to start hatching them,as we are in spring here and Id like my kids to see baby chicks hatching.
Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.
Ill post pics of the birds later today if I get time.
Also.....ive been told the chickens I have are small........not the bantys.Ive had bants before,but after looking over the fence at my neighbours birds...mine are small...and by the looks,the chicks I bought a while back are also bants.I hate when people flogg off something that its obviously not to the unknowing person.
Anyways.Hi from New Zealand

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to this forum. You will meet some nice people here.

There is no telling when a hen will go broody. Some go broody three times before they are a year old. Some never go broody. It is somewhat breed dependent but also depends very much on the individual hen. Some breeds have had the broodiness bred out of them. A hen does not lay eggs when she is broody. Certain breeds were developed to lay eggs for sale. If a hen is broody, she is not laying but you still have to feed her. You don't make money that way so the egg producers made going broody a fatal disease. Eventually, they were left with hens that genetically don't go broody very often. The good news for you is that the bantams and the fancy decorative chickens were not developed as egg layers, so going broody was not bred out of them. You have a pretty good chance of some of yours going broody. I can't tell you when though.

Some people believe that a nestful of eggs will encourage a hen to go broody. I don't know if it does or not. Some hens go broody with no eggs. I think it is not a good thing to leave eggs in the nest overnight as that would encourage predators. Leaving eggs in the nest also increases the risk of eggs getting broken accidentally. What you could do is put fake eggs in the nest. Golf balls or plastic or wooden eggs are used. That way the hens think they have a lot of eggs. I don't know if it will help, but it won't hurt.

 

[RAWR]

i was wondering the same thing
only i have Japanese Bantams