I put a regular size egg in with the bantam eggs for hatching. I got the bantam eggs shipped so wanted the broody to have something to raise in case the shipped eggs did not hatch. Just wondered if the incubation period was the same. Another question . . . . if none of them hatch, will she stay broody?
Yes, 21 days for all chicken eggs, Bantam or not. All hens are different, some will stay broody until somthing hatches, others will not. Wishing you luck!
Now I have another question. I set the eggs under the broodies yesterday afternoon. This morning I go out and one of the hens is in with one of the broodies laying her egg. Should I mark and leave this egg with the rest (marked) or will it hatch too late? I didn't know if 18 hours would be too much of a time span for a last chick to hatch. I can see that I'm going to have to check this broody's nest daily since this hen seems to chosen it for her new favorite. It's not like there's a shortage of nests, there's plenty of empty ones. Guess she knew there were eggs in there and figured it was the place to go. Dang hens never make it easy for us, do they.
18 hours isn't to much of a difference, so it's up to you. I personaly would take it away. You may want to move the broody into an erea where no other birds can get to her and lay eggs in her nest. It's no fun to have chicks hatching and others that are still incubating, because once the chicks are a couple days old, mom will leave the remaining eggs and go explore with her chicks. Good luck!
