Hatching Eggs without an incubator?

Welcome to BackYard Chickens!!

Yep! A ton of people swap the hen's eggs with fertile eggs.
If she is truly broody, she will continue to sit on 'your' eggs

Good luck!

 

It's not a dumb question. Before I had chickens but my friends did, when they started talking about what a fuss it is to hatch with incubators, I'd say "can't you just stick the eggs under a broody hen?" and they'd look at me like I was very odd.
There's lots of information on this forum about hatching under a broody hen. Most people say to switch the eggs at night so the hen won't fuss so much thinking you're taking her eggs. My broody hen takes a break once a day, so I just switched the eggs while she was taking a break. If your broody doesn't take breaks, I'd do it at night. Then, start counting to 21.
Good luck!

 

No dumb about it! I just hatched some of them! Good Luck! and