Does a broody care how much the egg-like object under her weighs?

[saysfaa]

Mocha has gone broody. I want to let her set but my eggs are not fertile. I have three wooden eggs that weight about as much as a real egg and a dozen super light weight plastic eggs - maybe half or less the weight of a normal plastic egg ( that opens in half to put things inside at Easter). I can put either or both under her. Or I can stop at tractor supply and get some ceramic eggs.

The ceramic ones are more expensive than I like but if they would be better for Mocha then I would get them today and save a trip to town. I'm have to go today for other reasons.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

A broody hen will set on nothing. It doesn't matter to most. Best to break her unless you intend to use her to hatch as setting is physically depleting to a hen.

 

[HappyClucker7]

Chickens can't really tell the difference. I used golf balls to keep my hen broody, and she still thought they were eggs. I would use whatever you have on hand.

 

[SilverLacedFarmChik]

I imagine that not every hen is the same, but I put golf balls under mine and she was perfectly happy with them

 

[BlueBaby]

I don't know about broody hen with those. I do know that if a hen is broody, she will even sit on an empty next trying to hatch the nest box material. My pullet's wouldn't even lay an egg in the nest boxes that I put the plastic egg's in. I bought 3 white ceramic egg's, because my girl's lay brown egg's, and now they lay the egg's in there with the ceramic one's.

 

[saysfaa]

Thank you. I might have found some fertile eggs for her; the person I went to town to see doesn't have a rooster but her friend who also keeps chickens might.

 

[Mrs. K]

That is how I started, asking a total stranger, "I heard you are a crazy chicken lady too, and might have fertilized eggs?" She sent me two dozen. A very fun hobby, good luck!

ps. I had two broody hens - 8 eggs is really best per hen.

 

[NatJ]

I have three wooden eggs that weight about as much as a real egg and a dozen super light weight plastic eggs - maybe half or less the weight of a normal plastic egg ( that opens in half to put things inside at Easter). I can put either or both under her. Or I can stop at tractor supply and get some ceramic eggs.

Broodies do not seem to care whether their "eggs" are too light or not, as long as it stays in the nest and underneath them.

The wooden eggs would be fine.

The plastic eggs might also be fine. I once had some that were so light they kept getting knocked out of the nest. A few stones inside each plastic egg solved that problem, if I remember rightly (it's been a while.)