We are still pretty new to the chicken world with lots to learn.We have free range chickens, they go to the hen house to lay their eggs, but my question is how can i tell when i have a hen ready to sit. We collect the eggs everyday, and so i did not know if that will keep them from wanting to sit? Or will one of the hens make a nest else where to hatch her eggs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all
They will usually go broody and start to sit in the same place that they lay their eggs. You may want to try leaving a few golf balls or fake eggs where the hens lay so they think there are eggs to sit on to encourage them. You will know when one goes broody because she will sit there like a zombie and get mad if try to move her. If you take her off the nest, she go back to it.
I noticed that when my buff orp. hen decided she wanted to sit, she didn't move. For a week straight, she was in the same nesting box. She would puff of and sort of growl at at us when we collected the eggs underneath her, so we finally gave her some wooden ones to sit on while I collected a few days worth of my Welsummer eggs for her to hatch. She's been sitting ever since! Her eggs are due to hatch Saturday.
Yes, leave eggs in the nest to encourage broodiness and a broody hen will spend its time sitting in the nest. A tip off that she is serious is when she overnights in the nest rather than on the roost.
I have a friend who also collects eggs daily who thought a free range hen was taken by a hawk only to find it a week later under a woodpile sitting on a clutch of eggs. Mine are all drive thru layers, lay and go, except one maran who tries to sit on whatever egg/s are in the last nestbox and she makes it very clear she is not amused when I take them and put her out to range (nothing to hatch here move along ha). This link has been posted on byc before and, as a fellow newbie, I found it to be very informative. http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html
