FERTIZILED EGGS?!

[aubreyt78]

I need help....................I have been taking my eggs and just hardboiling for my dogs. I have had the chickens for about 1 year now, and I think they have been laying since the fall. Now I want to try and hatch some babies, but I know nothing about it? I have 24 total, so do I just wait until I see a hen brooding, then put the candle to them? so the ones that no one is sitting on I assume or not fertilized? I just do not know where to begin. my mother in law says that once they hatch, the mom does all the work? any advice?

 

[Garden Gal]

Hi Aubrey,

I'm new at this myself so I hate to offer much advice, except to suggest if you haven't done so, read the sticky note at the top of this forum on "Hatching Eggs". There is a lot of good information there!

Good luck!

 

[TriciaHowe]

Quote:

I agree, read the top and if you still have questions you know where to find us!

 

[onthespot]

Not trying to talk down to you, but do you have a rooster in with your hens? If so, you are on your way! You can save fertile eggs for around ten days at a cooler room temerature. I save mine in egg cartons and turn them by just tipping the egg carton forward and then to the back at least three times a day until I am ready to put them into the incubator. You want them to "sleep" overnight, (or whichever shift turns out to be the longest due to your schedule) a different side every night, so the eggs don't spend most of their time more on one side or another. When your incubator is set up, running steady at the desired temp and humidity, you can put the eggs in. If you are waiting for a broody to start to set, you just keep saving the eggs and feeding the dogs the older ones and keep turning the newer ones and sooner or later one will go broody and you will have a pre-saved, nicley cared for clutch of eggs to slide under her. If you get a lot of eggs every day, it is not worth it to stockpile them, but if you only have one or two per day that you want to set, you may want to do the above, to take fullest advantage of the broodiness at the earliest possible time, because we want to see your chickies as soon as possible! LOL Good luck with everything. Hopefully some of what I said helped. Feel free to ask a LOT of questions. You will never find a nicer and more helpful group of people anywhwere.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

You need a rooster first.....

Takes two parents to make a baby

 

[aubreyt78]

Since last week, one of the hens had made a little nest under the nesting boxes!!!!!!!! and she has been sitting on them since about last week? only 5 eggs..................should I wait until they hatch?

 

[birdlover]

I see from your BYC page that you indeed have roosters!! Yes, I'd let her sit on her eggs if you want babies. You need to read up on what to do though. (Keeping others away, supplying food and water -both before and after babies hatch, etc.)

 

[onthespot]

yes, if you wait they should hatch in a couple weeks, and a couple days! Then you will have even MORE chickens!!!