Game hen keeps laying eggs but wont incubate

[ijcastillo]

Hi all,

I have a game hen who keeps laying eggs but wont incubate them. She now has about 16 and sits on them on and off. The weather where I live (Boulevard, Ca) is a bit temperamental. One day its warm and another cold and windy. At night it can get as cold as 36 degrees. My question is, should I pull out and egg(old) as she keeps laying each day to keep the freshest ones available or should I leave them be? Any advice greatly helps! Thank you,

 

[DobieLover]

Hi all,

I have a game hen who keeps laying eggs but wont incubate them. She now has about 16 and sits on them on and off. The weather where I live (Boulevard, Ca) is a bit temperamental. One day its warm and another cold and windy. At night it can get as cold as 36 degrees. My question is, should I pull out and egg(old) as she keeps laying each day to keep the freshest ones available or should I leave them be? Any advice greatly helps! Thank you,

You should be collecting the eggs daily.
Just because she is laying eggs doesn't mean she is broody or will go broody. That is a hormonal thing. Not all hens go broody. Although you have a better than average chance with her that she will go broody because she is a game hen.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've let eggs build up in a nest to try to get a hen to go broody, both golf ball fake eggs and marked real eggs. It has never worked though I think it can influence a hen that is thinking about it. My flock has several hens that do go broody and went broody later in the year, I just wanted one fairly early in the year.

I assume you have other hens laying or can get fertile eggs. My suggestion is to collect all the eggs daily and use them. When a hen does go broody start saving fresh fertile eggs until you have all you want and start them all at the same time. If you wish, you can put fake eggs in her nest, say 8 to 10. You can use golf balls or ceramic or wooden eggs. You might need to mark the ceramic or wooden eggs, they can look very realistic. From my experiments this does not work but I don't see it hurting anything.