Fertilized Eggs

[MotherHen75]

Im thinking about getting 3-4 bantam eggs for my hens, we have 3 roosters, a old english blue bantam (the best rooster ever ) road island red (we might get rid of him, but he takes care of the hens)and a black cochin. we have 7 hens, if we put fertile bantam eggs we get online, in the coup will the hens sit on them and raise them? or will they know it’s not their eggs, and if they do hatch will the hens kill them?

 

[RollTideChicken]

For that to work you need to already have a brooding hen. Just putting eggs in a nest won't get a hen to sit.

 

[lilmillefleur]

Your hen has to be broody first. She will sit on the eggs all day and growl and puff up at you if she is broody.

 

[MotherHen75]

A couple of our girls try to sit on their eggs after they lay, we always take them away though.

 

[lilmillefleur]

A couple of our girls try to sit on their eggs after they lay, we always take them away though.

They might be broody then
Give them some fertile eggs and see if they set.

 

[MotherHen75]

We will try! One of our friends said it’s a great experience watching a mother raising her chicks, I’m super excited

 

[MotherHen75]

I'm probably over thinking this stuff but, when a hen is brooding does she get off the nest to eat/drink? And also, when the chicks are hatched should i move them some place better, our nesting boxes are not accessible from the ground, but there is a small place under the boxes to sleep. I'm also kinda worried about the roosters, we have 3, not the bantam so much but the RIR and black cochin. I've heard hen cochins are friendly, and our rooster is too, but if you hold him the wrong way he will peck you, will they accept the chicks? The more I look at this, the more I think I'm over thinking it.