first egg came early! what do I do?

[kellysmall87]

hehe, I know.. mad huh?! LOL The bra method does not work

 

[Pinky Macgyver]

So, she's laid five eggs now. I've been storing them while building a kickass incubator and getting the temp etc stable, and today she decides to go broody. At least I think so. She's sitting on her nest and gets very defensive if I go near. Will she stop laying now? Should I give back some of her eggs? I want to incubate some to justify the $$ I spent on the incubator but also want what's best for them of course.
Also, I've only seen them mate once which was before she started laying. I'm obviously not watching them all the time but is it possible they aren't and that the eggs won't be fertile?

 

[kellysmall87]

Hens store the sperm for up to two weeks, so she will fertilise any eggs she produces in this 2 week period. Some might not be fertile, some might, or they all might be, or all might not be! It really depends.. and you wont know for definite until you try.
I collected 12 eggs from my chickens and 8 were fertile and 7 hatched successfully. That was my first hatch with my young hens that just started laying a couple of months ago.
If she is broody, you could try letting her sit on golf balls or something first to see if she is really committed. Some hens like the idea of being broody but after a day or three, they will get up and let the eggs die. So make sure she is truly broody first. If you are sure she is broody, you can put half in the bator and half under the hen? And yes, she will stop laying if she is broody.

 

[Pinky Macgyver]

Thanks for that yeah, she's gone back and forth a bit since posting prolly a false alarm.. Have given her a wooden egg to sit on just in case