Broody hen?

[lablover]

How do you know for sure when a hen will stay on the nest to hatch eggs? I've had a red sex link on and off the nest today quite a bit. If she does decide to hatch eggs, what should I do first? I get 4-5 eggs a day, but I would only want chicks out of 2-3 of them. Would I just pick the eggs i want from the ones I get each day after she starts sitting on the nest? This is my first flock. I have a 2x3 hutch that I used the for the flock when they were little, and I've kept a sick hen in it overnight once. Would I put her in this with the nest? It still gets below 40 degrees F, so I would really need her to be serious about hatching chicks.

 

[Brookliner]

Checkout some of the broody hen threads. If she settles in and will not get off and growels when you try to reach under to check for eggs. If she is all fluffed up and flattened out. She is BROODY.

 

[Brookliner]

Checkout some of the broody hen threads. If she settles in and will not get off and growels when you try to reach under to check for eggs. If she is all fluffed up and flattened out. She is BROODY.

 

[TXchickmum]

I've only had a flock for about 10 months. My Japanese Bantam went broody at about 7 months old. -knew she was broody because she would not come off of the nest (except to briefly drink some water and get a bit of feed). -stayed on her nest night and day. Finally after about 3 to 4 weeks, she decided she wasn't going to hatch air and was done. If your hen is broody, it'll be fairly obvious. She won't want to come off of her nest. Many folks will tell you that red sex-links don't go broody. My neighbor, however, definitely had a broody red sex-link hen. -had to place her in a separate area away from the nest for about four days to break the broodiness.