I have broody hens with a couple of eggs for the purpose of keeping them interested in staying broody, while my incubator eggs hatch. However, giving chicks to hens can be tricky, so I was wondering if it might be better to give the hens the incubator eggs just before they hatch instead.
I don't have all the eggs out with the hens because I'm concerned the flock might interfere with the hatch (we already had 2 broken eggs) and I don't trust the hens to always keep covered a large batch of eggs, with their habit of "stealing" them from each other.
I can set up a brooder if nothing else works, but I'd rather have the hens raise them, that way there's no stress about integration and no need to keep an extra cage with a heater, when at the same time I'll have hens with a few chicks running around.
This isn't an emergency, as the eggs are on about day 7 of developing. Still, I'd rather have a clear plan for what to do when the time comes.
Can such a thing be done? Or would the change in temperature and humidity be bad for the incubator eggs, if given to a hen right before hatching?
I don't have all the eggs out with the hens because I'm concerned the flock might interfere with the hatch (we already had 2 broken eggs) and I don't trust the hens to always keep covered a large batch of eggs, with their habit of "stealing" them from each other.
I can set up a brooder if nothing else works, but I'd rather have the hens raise them, that way there's no stress about integration and no need to keep an extra cage with a heater, when at the same time I'll have hens with a few chicks running around.
This isn't an emergency, as the eggs are on about day 7 of developing. Still, I'd rather have a clear plan for what to do when the time comes.
Can such a thing be done? Or would the change in temperature and humidity be bad for the incubator eggs, if given to a hen right before hatching?
