Going to start..

[Toeby]

I am really new to the process and have never had any babies. I do not own, nor do I plan on owning an incubator. Currently, I have two Black Jersey Giants and three Rhode Island Reds. All of my chickens are hens and therefore unable to hatch their own eggs. My BJG are a little over one year (so I have been told) and my RIR are close to laying now (so I have been told). This is only day three of the RIR and no eggs as of yet.

My mother-in-law lives next door and has some chickens (not sure of the breed) with a feather foot rooster, as well as a couple breeding pair of Silkies. They are trying to hatch the Silkies but are just eating the eggs from the others (they have 2 hens with the roo). One of the hens went broody and was sitting on an eggless nest. So, I stashed two BJG eggs of mine under it (before I got shed of my BJG roo) and am hoping for the best.

With all that said, here is my question..

Since they (mother-in-law) are only eating the eggs, if I give them my roo-less eggs to eat in exchange for their roo 'd eggs.. will my BJG's sit on them? I know they need a "stockpile" but how many is enough? Should I keep the eggs inside rotating them daily or leave in the nest? When I place the "stockpile" of eggs can I choose where or do I have to place them where they usually lay?

Any tips or comments I really appreciate!

 

[Folly's place]

Broody hens just happen, more often in some breeds than others, and more often in older hens. If you leave a couple of marked eggs in a nest, and one of your birds does become broody, then try giving her some fertile eggs. Or enjoy your in-law's hen instead. Mary

 

[Teila]

Howdy Toeby

You do not mention if one of your BJG’s is broody. A hen will not sit on a pile of eggs because they are there, she needs to be broody.

If you have a broody, depending on her size, maybe give her 10-12 eggs; the number is determined by how many she can cover with ease. So, once she has settled on the eggs, if you cannot see any poking out from under her, all good.

A broody hen will usually pick the spot she wants to brood in but I [and many others] have successfully moved a broody on eggs to a more preferred spot.

Once one of my broody hens has some eggs to sit on, I think I could move her just about anywhere and she will stay put

So, when you have a broody that is the time to start stockpiling fertile eggs. Give her a couple of dud eggs to sit on for a couple of days to ensure that she is serious and in my opinion that is the best time to move her if you want.

Once you know she is serious, staying put on the nest and you have the amount of fertile eggs you want to give her, give them to her all at once. If you stagger the days you give her the eggs, the eggs will not all hatch at the same time, creating a risk of her leaving the unhatched eggs to look after the little ones that have hatched.

It is generally considered that the cut off point on giving a fertile egg to a hen is nothing over 10 days old. However, I have read of people who have given hens older fertile eggs with success and even some who say they had the eggs in the fridge.

 

[Toeby]

Howdy Toeby

You do not mention if one of your BJG’s is broody. A hen will not sit on a pile of eggs because they are there, she needs to be broody.

If you have a broody, depending on her size, maybe give her 10-12 eggs; the number is determined by how many she can cover with ease. So, once she has settled on the eggs, if you cannot see any poking out from under her, all good.

A broody hen will usually pick the spot she wants to brood in but I [and many others] have successfully moved a broody on eggs to a more preferred spot.

Once one of my broody hens has some eggs to sit on, I think I could move her just about anywhere and she will stay put

So, when you have a broody that is the time to start stockpiling fertile eggs. Give her a couple of dud eggs to sit on for a couple of days to ensure that she is serious and in my opinion that is the best time to move her if you want.

Once you know she is serious, staying put on the nest and you have the amount of fertile eggs you want to give her, give them to her all at once. If you stagger the days you give her the eggs, the eggs will not all hatch at the same time, creating a risk of her leaving the unhatched eggs to look after the little ones that have hatched.

It is generally considered that the cut off point on giving a fertile egg to a hen is nothing over 10 days old. However, I have read of people who have given hens older fertile eggs with success and even some who say they had the eggs in the fridge.

Thanks for the response! I do not currently have a broody hen, I am trying to get the info now, so it isn't all last minute. If I am constantly taking her/all the eggs, what makes her want to be broody? I only ask so that I can encourage her to be broody.

About a week ago I had decided to let them hatch. I ended up giving up.. that time. They lay eggs in my barn, I have provided several homemade nesting areas. I have some sort of metal locker that is divided into 5 equal spaces that I have put dried grass into and 1 green tote I made an entrance into. My banties were laying in the locker but when I got the Giants they refused. Everyday I woulod check only to find they had moved them out onto the ground. I decided the locker spaces were to small so made a nesting box out of a green tote. To begin with they treated it the same but I noticed them in there frequently. I even watched as one hen dragged the egg out after I literally just put it in there. I remained persistent and continued putting them in there (knowing it was plenty of space inside). Eventually they got the hang of it and continued to lay in it. I then decided I wanted laying hens and the BJG's didn't lay enough. I then took all the eggs out and ever since then they have dug a hole and they both lay in it only. The other day one hen jumped the fence and made a nest in the bushes because the other hen had occupied the ground nest. Why will they not use the other nests? Either way I take the eggs...

 

[Teila]

Hey there Toeby

There are some theories that leaving a couple of eggs in a nest box will encourage a broody.

I read this on a thread one day and have borrowed it a couple of times, it sums it up nicely

A hen "goes broody" when she wants to set continuously on a clutch of eggs for 21 days and have chicks hatch out. Some hens will never go broody, some will go occasionally, some go very frequently, even weeks after leaving their last batch of chicks. It's difficult to "make" a hen go broody, this mood is determined by her own instincts, hormones, voices in her head, instructions beamed down from her Mother Ship.

The best way to tell a hen has gone broody is when she wants to stay in her nest spot at night instead of going up to the roost to sleep. She'll puff her feathers out, flatten her body over the eggs, growl or shriek if disturbed, and often peck or bite any hand that dares come close. She may be setting on real eggs, fake eggs, golf balls, or imaginary eggs, it doesn't matter, they're important to her.

I am sorry that I am not going to be of any assistance with regards where they lay their eggs and hopefully someone else will be able to help. My hens have always laid in the nest boxes in the coop and I have not had any that hide nests or lay in strange places.

 

[Toeby]

Hey there Toeby

There are some theories that leaving a couple of eggs in a nest box will encourage a broody.

I read this on a thread one day and have borrowed it a couple of times, it sums it up nicely

A hen "goes broody" when she wants to set continuously on a clutch of eggs for 21 days and have chicks hatch out. Some hens will never go broody, some will go occasionally, some go very frequently, even weeks after leaving their last batch of chicks. It's difficult to "make" a hen go broody, this mood is determined by her own instincts, hormones, voices in her head, instructions beamed down from her Mother Ship.

The best way to tell a hen has gone broody is when she wants to stay in her nest spot at night instead of going up to the roost to sleep. She'll puff her feathers out, flatten her body over the eggs, growl or shriek if disturbed, and often peck or bite any hand that dares come close. She may be setting on real eggs, fake eggs, golf balls, or imaginary eggs, it doesn't matter, they're important to her.

I am sorry that I am not going to be of any assistance with regards where they lay their eggs and hopefully someone else will be able to help. My hens have always laid in the nest boxes in the coop and I have not had any that hide nests or lay in strange places.

Instead of real eggs, I have heard of using golf balls.. will this actually work? I tried it with my Banties and it seemed to but my BJG's aren't as impressed but then again they don't seem to like anything I make for them as a nest..