Broody hen question

[Ga Chicken Mom]

Woohoo! I finally got a broody - my 1 1/2 yr old BO has been sitting for 3 days. I was able to transfer her from the coop to the broody box last night, she was still stuck fast this morning. She is sitting on wooden eggs but I want to switch to real eggs tonight. The eggs I collected yesterday are in the cool basement and I'll have eggs from today. So, do I let the cool eggs at least warm up to outside temps ( low 90's ) before I put them under her? I don't want her to leave the nest because the real eggs would be way colder than her warm wooden eggs. Will 10 eggs be a good number to try? This is her first time broody and I don't want to give her too much of a challenge. I've never hatched eggs so fingers crossed and any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Judy]

I would get the eggs up to outside temps before I put them under her. They should be good for a week at the very least.

I hope your broody box is big enough to allow her to walk around a bit; they do need to be able to exercise.

You might want to browse in this thread a bit: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ody-hen-hatch-a-long-and-informational-thread

It's huge but probably says everything you might want to know, several times over.

Or just ask!

 

[Ga Chicken Mom]

Thanks, Judy. The eggs in the basement are from yesterday, the rest of the girls only laid 3 today so I will put 9 under the BO tonight. Actually the broody box is 24" x 24" but the door is open and the hen has a 4' x 4' enclosure in the big chicken run. I read a lot of the info on the broody hen thread - it was great - but didn't find anything about getting the eggs warmer before placing them in the nest or the number of eggs for a BO to cover. I placed food and water within reach but she didn't eat anything today. The next 21 days are going to be sooooo long.

 

[Judy]

It will be an exciting wait, though!

I don't know that you need to warm the eggs; it just makes sense to me, especially since some of the methods of breaking a broody involve sitting her on something cold.

Really I think the answer to, how many, is, however many she can cover, maybe with a couple extra to replace duds -- she will move them around in the nest. I like to give them 8 or 9, but that's just me.

Did you see this post by Ridgerunner? He/she writes good stuff!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/693407/broody-bird-what-to-do#post_9400530