Forcing broodiness in hen or Bator?

[Mrs.Puff]

I'm trying to expand my banty flock, and I've got 5 EE and 3 d'uccle eggs all ready and waiting for somebody to set on them. I've only got 2 banty hens left to set (one of my banties just hatched 6 chicks a couple days ago, so she's out of commission), and I know one of them can't possibly cover all those eggs. She's really little. Should I try to force broodiness in one of them to naturally hatch the eggs, or would I be better off to put them in a Bator? I don't have electricity, so I would have to give the eggs to a neighbor, and then when they hatch, I don't have any way to keep a heat lamp on them. My tiny banty seemed to really enjoy sitting on a golf ball, even when she didn't have an egg to lay that day. She likes to set on the eggs for little while, then hops off again. My EE banty pecks at me when she's sitting on the nest (now full of eggs), but she hops off again later as well.

 

[perfectly_polish]

You can't really force a hen to go broody, it's natural and they deciede when they want to do it. You'll probably be better off using an incubator, and then maybe by the time they hatch a hen will go broody and you can give the chicks to her. Good luck

 

[peruvian_princess]

Yeah use the bator not sure how on earth you would force one to go broody but if you did happen to figure it out let us know.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Well, I read a thing in Backyard Poultry magazine where a 13yr old girl forces hens to go broody by placing them on eggs in a darkened box, not letting them out except for a brief eat/poo/drink each day, and over a couple days they usually decide to stay on the eggs. She claimed this always works for her.

Has anybody out there ever tried this??

 

[peruvian_princess]

Where did you get your screen name? Is it from sponge bob? You hav ethe same name as his drivers ed teacher mrs. puff LOL

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Well, a friend of mine's kids came over right after I got the hens and asked if they could name them. Mrs. Puff is the name of my cochin/d'uccle banty. I had no idea that mrs. puff was from spongebob. I just thought they named her that cause she was puffy looking. So that's my username. She just hatched 6 chicks two days ago, and they are MIGHTY cute.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Well-- I tried the forcing broodiness thing with my EE banty, and it worked. She was already seeming kinda broody-ish, so I stuck her in a small dog kennel on top of some eggs, and then covered it with a dark cloth. This morning, she was all about setting on those eggs. So hopefully I'll get 7 more chicks out of her!

 

[fullhouse]

I have a BO named Mrs. Puff, lol!

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Her "puffiness" really helps in covering those chickies. The funniest thing ever is when she walks around with a chick right under her, and the chick is walking too. So it looks like Mrs. Puff with these teeny tiny legs holding her up!

 

[peruvian_princess]

That is too funny! LOL