Broody hens and hatch dates?

[flgardengirl]

When do you start counting when a broody hen's chicks are due? Is it when they start sitting in the nestbox overnight?
She was sort of off and on for a week until she had gathered up quite a few eggs then started sitting in there all night and only comes out in the morning to eat and drink. I bring her drinks and a few treats during the day since it is so hot lately. So I started counting then and if that is how you're supposed to do it, I'm thinking it will be Aug 11th....
Also, will hot outdoor temps make them hatch faster?

 

[Oven Ready]

Count from the day after the last egg was laid, we always mark our eggs so everyone laying gets checked everyday and we keep a diary on the computer, it's very helpful when you have a few hens and you want to keep an eye on who is due to hatch.

Unless the temperature in the nest box is over 41C you shouldn't see any decrease in the number of days required, but saying that each little chick is different.

We have Japanese Bantams and our daytime temperatures are always high 30 low 40s and we've had one or two hatch on day 16 (should be 18-19) but we've also had some hatch on day 22. I'd say they are maybe one day sooner when it's summer (42-34C) than winter (36-26C). We always have high humidity.

 

[flgardengirl]

Thanks I forgot about marking eggs. We used to do that with our barred rocks but mostly they would either hide their eggs or decide they didn't want to be broody after a week or two so I never really got the whole broody experience LOL. We also used to raise leghorns when I was little but they never went broody.

The calendar thing is a good idea. I will have to mark my eggs with white or silver pencil because they are mostly pretty dark brown. Many hens keep trying to share the same nest box lol. There are several nests but they only use a couple and fight over them.
I think we probably have similar climates...I've noticed all the asian type veggies do exceptionally well here

 

[Oven Ready]

We use a standard black magic marker, I've found pencil rubs off too easily. I usually put a complete circle round the middle of the egg so I don't need to move the eggs about to spot a new one and number them on both ends. Sometimes another girl will try to slip one in when the real mother is off having a wander about so the band of black makes it very obvious.
I know people worry about chemicals from pens going into the egg but I've never seen any ill effects.

Is that a Brugmansia in your avatar?