Egg collecting and broody hen question

[chicks4kids]

I collect my eggs several times a day, especially now that it's somewhere around 11* F right now. I have a few questions as far a broody hens and the 21 day countdown goes.....

1. If I collect eggs constantly, and I think a hen is going broody, at what point does she literally start her "clock/countdown" to hatch day? I mean, if she is setting on one egg today, lays another egg tomorrow, and so on, at what point do I know when to start the countdown? Is there a point at which she stops laying eggs and thats when the brood begins?

2. Would it be easier to just throw a handful of eggs under her once I notice it and call it done?

Thanks!!

 

[scooter147]

Hens will not go broody while still laying. She will lay her clutch then go broody, not the other way around.
Once I have a hen that I am sure is broody I then place the eggs I want to hatch under her in a separate cage for her to brood.
Be carefull many hens, depending on the breed, will show a false brood. They will act broody for several days and then stop.

 

[LeghornLisa]

That's good to know. I have white cochin who is 8 months old and stared acting broody yesterday. She slept in the nesting box on one egg last night. I moved her this morning and took the egg. She didn't fight me, when right to the food and spent all day out of the box. She just got back in the box again for the night....is this normal?

 

[scooter147]

Sounds normal for a broody hen to me.
A broody hen will sit on nothing. How long they will remain broody without hatching anything is really depends on the hen. I have a couple of hens that are probably broody 9 months a year, hatch just about anything I put under them and are excellant mothers. They have place on my mini farm as long as they want. Some hens that will stay broody for a week and quit, some that will brood for 4-5 weeks without hatching then break out of it.
A broody hen will generally leave the nest once a day to eat, drink, defecate, dust bathe, strecth their wings and legs. The time spent off the nest in my experience is hen dependent as well. Some hens will stay off only 10 minutes or so and I have some that will stay off 30 to 45 minutes.