Hens and eggs

[Kathy Strasser]

I am somewhat new to chicken/rooster care (two years).

For about 1 year we have had a rooster with our hens. This spring, the hens started to roost on their eggs. Once with no chick results. Once with one hatched, fully formed, but dead when I found it.
Now, that same hen has just begun sitting on 4 eggs.

Do I just leave her alone?
I don't necessarily want to go the incubator route, but wouldn't mind having chicks either.

What to do?
Kathy

 

[allosaurusrock]

I would try giving her eggs from a different rooster. It is possible that your particular bird has problems fertilizing eggs.

You could also try buying a few chicks and giving them to her. She'll treat them like her own and stop brooding the others.

Just make sure that once you are blessed with chicks that the flock is being fed chick starter, or if you are brooding separated from the rest of the birds, make sure that the chicks and mother have access to chick starter. Layer pellets have too much calcium for chicks and could hurt them.

 

[simplify]

I am somewhat new to chicken/rooster care (two years).

For about 1 year we have had a rooster with our hens. This spring, the hens started to roost on their eggs. Once with no chick results. Once with one hatched, fully formed, but dead when I found it.
Now, that same hen has just begun sitting on 4 eggs.

Do I just leave her alone?
I don't necessarily want to go the incubator route, but wouldn't mind having chicks either.

What to do?
Kathy

Hi Kathy,. If you want the chics I would leave her alone. At the same time.....gather other eggs from your girls and do a fertile test on those eggs, meaning, gather them and crack open each one into a light color plate and look for the bullseye to see if you are getting a good number of fertile eggs from your flock. I have done this bout every 3 weeks this spring while I was waiting for a broody. My roo was keeping a 100% on my target group. I now have a broody Bo on 7 wellsumer and 3 Bo/ wellsumer eggs. Will post mid July when they are due to hatch. Good luck.