delay a broody hen

[Leesea]

I have a very broody hen (no rooster) and I’m thinking I want to give her some fertalized eggs. She is sitting on an empty nest now. But in 21 days I will be on vacation for a week. Will she stay broody without eggs for another week? Can I delay and put fertilized eggs in her nest so they hatch when I am back home?

 

[Kev]

Yes, most hens will stay on eggs more than 21 weeks. It's doable.

Might be good idea to worm or dust her if that's not been done.

 

[bantamrooster]

A lot of times i have a hen go broody and i just put any eggs under her then collect eggs i want to hatch and swap them out when i have enough.
Other times i leave a pile in one nest box from our layer flock and see if someone decides to go broody and when one does i swap them out for some i want to hatch.
I usually get them swapped within a week so the longest they end up setting is a week on the first eggs then three weeks on the good eggs.
Id feel bad keeping on setting for more than 4 weeks total.
Idk how long she will stay broody on an empty nest but if you have some to put under her now i dont think you ll have any issues.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I recently did what you are talking about, delay putting eggs under a broody so I’d be here when they hatched. I delayed starting her about 10 days. She hatched out fine and is now taking care of her chicks.

Don’t try to time it too fine. It’s not that unusual for my broodies to hatch out a day or even two early. Give yourself a bit of a cushion.