Broody hen

[GoldpartridgeHen]

Hello,

I have a broody cochin, she is currently sitting on four eggs
i want to put around 5-6 eggs under her; is it ok if I put one or two eggs which i will get tomorrow under her?
that would mean the first four eggs would be around 8 hours ahead.
will that have a negative effect?

Thanks for any help

 

[azygous]

You will still be facing a staggered hatch, although 8 hours isn't huge.

Several factors come into play when a broody hatches eggs. She has an inner hormonal timer and this "timer" starts running up to 21 days when she begins to sit on the eggs and sticks to the nest. This is to clarify that it's not unusual for a broody to start to sit but frequently gets off and back on the eggs until she "sticks" to the nest. It's at that moment when the timer starts.

Any eggs added after that will be that much later to hatch than the first batch. You run the risk of her abandoning any unhatched eggs after her first eggs hatch. Or she might reject the later hatching chicks. Or the worst scenario, which I've experienced, is that she will continue to sit on unhatched eggs and neglect the care of the hatched chicks.

It's very tempting to add eggs after the broody begins her incubating, but try to resist it. You might have to deal with unintended consequences which can be oh-so-inconvenient.

 

[GoldpartridgeHen]

You will still be facing a staggered hatch, although 8 hours isn't huge.

Several factors come into play when a broody hatches eggs. She has an inner hormonal timer and this "timer" starts running up to 21 days when she begins to sit on the eggs and sticks to the nest. This is to clarify that it's not unusual for a broody to start to sit but frequently gets off and back on the eggs until she "sticks" to the nest. It's at that moment when the timer starts.

Any eggs added after that will be that much later to hatch than the first batch. You run the risk of her abandoning any unhatched eggs after her first eggs hatch. Or she might reject the later hatching chicks. Or the worst scenario, which I've experienced, is that she will continue to sit on unhatched eggs and neglect the care of the hatched chicks.

It's very tempting to add eggs after the broody begins her incubating, but try to resist it. You might have to deal with unintended consequences which can be oh-so-inconvenient.

Ok, thanks-
I will probably just go ahead with the four i have already under her.
i have 22 eggs in the incubator atm, so i don't have to put too many under her