hens not on eggs at all times..is this a problem?

[davimi]

A couple of days ago I decided to let my hens try to hatch some eggs. The first day there were 3 eggs, yesterday there were 5. I think the hens were taking turns sitting on the eggs. This morning, no one is on the eggs. Should I take the eggs away and just forget about it. Do the hens need to be on the eggs most of the day?

 

[Kittymomma]

They need to be broody first. If you have a hen that stays on the nest box (with or without eggs) pufffs up at you and only gets off once a day or so to eat/drink/poo (huge stincking poo) then she's broody and you can let her sit, otherwise you 'll need to use an incubator.

 

[davimi]

i htought they were ready...when i would try to get the eggs, there would be a hen on them about half of the time...this morning they were all out in the run just hanging out