can i let my hen go broody on 2 eggs

[chickenmama109]

hi i have 11 hens and 1 roo
i want to let my hen go broody but cant have many more hens

and the hen i want to go broody is a lavender D,uccle is that a good breed

and how many eggs do you have to have to go broody

thanks to all help

 

[TattooedChicks]

I doubt you could make a hen go broody, but a small bantam would be ample to do a small clutch of eggs when she is ready. Though I might do more like 4 eggs in case you have quitters or cockerels, plus extra pullets could sell for a few dollars if you don't need them.

 

[Mrs. K]

Broodiness is in the hands of the Gods. You can encourage it, but you have to have a lot of things lined up: enough day-light, breeds of hens that are known to go broody, actively laying hen of that breed. Then you cross your fingers and try leaving either a pile of eggs in a nest or fake eggs or golf balls in a nest. Sometimes a pile of eggs will trigger it, sometimes not.

If you get one that is on the nest at dark, good sign. Act like you don't notice her. Hope hard. For me this is the hardest part, leave her be for several days. In my experience, often times, they act a bit broody, then they don't act broody, then they do, don't, then they get serious. If you set eggs too soon, you loose the clutch as they are trying to make up their mind. Been there done that.

As stated above: you really can't make a bird go broody, just kind of encourage it. Many a bird has only hatched 1-3 chicks. You do need to plan what you will do with the cockerels, usually more than 50% of the eggs are cockerels. And a lot of eggs will not make it to a live chick. Once on the old board, they did an ongoing count, and it was pretty much about 50% of eggs set, either broody or incubator, did not make live chicks. And half of those that do, will be male.

Good luck. Thought I had a broody 2 weeks ago, but she has not been back. dang it.

Mrs K

 

[chickenmama109]

Thank you every one

 

[chickengeorgeto]

.... i want to let my hen go broody but cant have many more hens... and the hen i want to go broody is a lavender D,uccle[?] is that a good breed[?] and how many eggs do you have to have to go broody...

Hens go broody as their response to female chicken sex hormones. It is forever more impossible to force a hen to go broody. I seem to see that you think that just because a hen is such and such a breed that every chick that hen hatches will be exactly like the mother hen. It want happen, each and every egg that your flock lays is 50% the DNA of the hen and 50% of the DNA of the rooster who treaded that hen.

Mark about 3 eggs with a soft graphite pencil and leave them in the nest. Chickens are really really poor at math and they will never notice that you have been gathering the new eggs. While this is going on keep gathering and storing correctly all the eggs that your Lavender D,uccle lays. When you have a hen go broody let her sit for 48 hours then in the dark of the night remove the 3 bait eggs and substitute 12 to 15 of your freshes Lavender D,uccle's eggs, that is if you want chicks from your Lavender D,uccle.