hatching eggs.

[sarahr0612]

Ok so I have a group of small chickens, my silkies, frizzles, ect. well they are all laying fertilized eggs & they lay in the same nest. My frizzles are supposedly great at being broody so my question is at what point should I expect this to happen? there's about 6 eggs in the nest, when should I expect one of them to get in there and stay? and at what point should I just bring the eggs inside if none of them go broody? new at the hatching thing.

 

[sumi]

Broodiness is hormonal and it can happen any time, or never. It depends on the individual hen, really. Some are more prone to broodiness (I have 2 of those) and some just won't go broody (I have one of those too). Leaving eggs in the nest can encourage broodiness in my experience, but if you want to do it that way mark some eggs as "bait" and remove the fresh laid eggs daily, so you don't end up wasting too many eggs if it doesn't work. If a hen does go broody replace the "bait" eggs with fresh ones and mark them as well so you can continue removing any fresh ones the hens will inevitably add to the clutch while she's brooding.

 

[sarahr0612]

ok thanks! im going to mark them today