Broody Question!!

[kaankboom]

I have a serious question about broody hens. When a hen becomes broody does she lays egg to sit on, or do I have to place eggs underneath her ?

 

[richsbabycakes]

I'm new to this but my understanding is that it can work either way. A hen could lay eggs, fertile or not, decide she's going to hatch them and plant herself on them. I also think that if a hen lays and does not go broody, another hen in the flock can become broody and try to hatch those eggs. If you don't have a roo and none of your hens eggs will be fertile, you may be able to buy fertile eggs and see if she hatches them or you can try to bread her of her broodiness. I hope I got that right.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When A hen goes broody, she stops laying eggs. The eggs take about 21 days to hatch, so if she continued to lay eggs, the ones that started late would not hatch. Plus, a broody does not eat a lot. She cannot afford to spend her energy and nutrition laying eggs when she is broody.

You need to start all the eggs you want her to hatch at the same time. Mark them so you will know which ones they are and remove any other eggs that show up from her nest every day.