First Time Brooder

[ckkevin]

We have a rooster and a hen and it appears the hen is going broody. She sits on her egg most of the day and wont leave her nest when we come into the coop. If we get close to her, she raises her feathers and cackle a bit.

The last couple of days, I took her eggs in the morning when she came out to eat. We would like to let her hatch a few eggs but we are very new to this. Will she lay a few more eggs and then stop laying? When do you start counting for possible hatch days?

 

[hippie]

if she is setting, she is done laying and is ready to hatch. i would save up a few eggs from your other hens or get some from a neighbor and give her a full clutch. if she's gonna sit there for three weeks you might as well make it worth her while. just make sure that all the eggs go under her at the same time and watch for other hens laying eggs in there with her.(i usually mark the eggs that i want hatched and check periodically to make sure there aren't any other unmarked eggs in there)

 

[hippie]

sorry, i just noticed that you only have one hen.

 

[ckkevin]

I have 6 4 week old RIR's but I don't think they are willing to donate any eggs to the cause yet.

 

[hippie]

i suppose you can let her hatch just a couple eggs but i would want her to hatch a mess of them. spring is young, if you stop her from setting temporarily, she'll do it again after you save up a few eggs.

 

[ckkevin]

I suppose I could keep pulling eggs for another 5 days and then put them all back in the nest. Will a hen tend to stay broody for awhile if the eggs are taken from her?

 

[hippie]

i'm not trying to be a professional by any stretch of the imagination but when my hens get broody, i have a hard time getting them back in the laying mode. taking them out of the nest and putting them back on the roost at night only works for one night. when mine get broody and go into hatching mode they stop laying and spend 23 1/2 hours a day on the nest in a trance.

 

[Diva]

One of my RIR was trying but I think I messed it up for her. I removed all but 2 eggs. Tried to give her food and water. then just before I went to bed I thought I should mark them so I know which ones are which and she left the nest right afterwards. In the future do I just leave them alone and let nature take its course? Will she get down to eat and drink and then return to her nest? I have not had that process occur yet and I do not want to stick my nose in her business again.

L.

 

[hippie]

when my hens are setting, i can do anything to them and they won't stop. i didn't think that a RIR would set on eggs but i could be wrong. the other day i was setting two hens up in an other building so that i wouldn't have to worry about other hens pestering them. i slid a thin piece of plastic under the hen and her nest and moved her outside and into another building and she didn't budge. the other one was in a nest box and i carefully pulled her out and and calmly put her into a prepared nest that i had set up for her.