I have a one year old Wyandotte that went broody 4 weeks ago. I don't have a rooster, so obtained 4 possibly fertile eggs from a friend. After sitting 2 more weeks on these eggs, @ candled sterile, and one fertilized but died. Today 3/4/13, she left the nest for 5 hours. When I put her to bed, she went back to sitting on cold eggs. Our feed store gets next shipment of peeps on 3/6/13.. Can I still swap out sterile eggs for live chicks? Will she accept and raise them? Precious mom. (Precious was a favorite Sussex rescue that died this week.)
I think after four weeks and leaving the eggs to get cold, she doesn't want to be broody anymore. Maybe the next time she does, is when you could get some fertile eggs for her to hatch.
I tried this once. I put a live Welsummer day-old chick under a broody Bantam that had been sitting 4 1/2 weeks. It took about 1 day, but she did adopt the chick and raise it like her own. So try it.
My eterna-broody sat on eggs for over 4 weeks and one night I swapped out the dud eggs for 3, day old chicks. She took to them immediately and they are thriving with her now. Of note, this is NOT her first rodeo. She's a regular.
Thanks for the reply. Tomarrow is the day peeps arrive at our feedstore. I have the broody hen's coop all fixed up with a red heatlamp, new wood shavings, chick waterer and feeder, chick starter and grit. Hope she accepts them... she realy is the Horton that hatched the Who! Ava
