Hatching Eggs

Date sort Score sort
welcome-byc.gif
A hen only needs to be bred every couple of weeks or so to remain fertile so if your rooster is spreading his work between all of those hens (19 is a lot for one rooster) chances are that your eggs are fertile. Do an online search on 'bulls eye fertility' - threads will come up indicating how to tell if eggs are fertile or not.

When a hen goes broody/clucky/sets , she will stay in the nest box, fluff up when approached, and perhaps screech at you. It is generally best to wait until she has stayed in the nest overnight before giving her eggs to incubate. Understand that not all hens (especially hatchery bred) will go broody. Good luck in expanding your flock.
 
some breeds that tend to go broody are Buff Orpingtons, Cochins, and the star broodies , Silkies. Folks buy silkies just to have a natural incubator on hand. You cannot MAKE them go broody, you can only take advantage once they are. Silkies have such strong instinct(hormones?) that they will sit on rocks, toys or even nothing at all - which of course is frustrating for them. So putting and fertile eggs under them can be a very good thing. I believe "Showgirls," which are a variety of silkie are just the same.

However, hatchery silkies generally have that bred out of them because they want continual eggs not chicks.
 
gene22222222 said:
Hi Does any know if I have to move  a hen that is is hatching from the rest and how long does it take eggs to hatch. Thanks for any Info. I am very new to this
Click to expand...


It all depends on your set-up. I'd suggest describing your set-up in as much detail as possible on the "hatch-a-long" forum for advice.

Good luck

Ct
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom