How do I know if my hen is broody

[Hailey Bug Hmz]

Hi so this is my first time trying to let a chicken hatch eggs and I don’t know if she’s broody or not I know they get aggressive when it comes to protecting eggs she has 6 eggs currently in her nest and I never see her laying on them and she doesn’t care if I mess with them I was trying to candle them and she is in with my rooster not sure exactly how old they are but I got them when they were baby in may of 2018

 

[cottontail farm]

If she's broody she will be sitting on them for the majority of her.day. She will also try to peck you to death if you take eggs out from under her.

 

[Hailey Bug Hmz]

If she's broody she will be sitting on them for the majority of her.day. She will also try to peck you to death if you take eggs out from under her.

Thanks when should she start laying on them like will they start to lay on them after a certain amount of eggs if they are broody cause right now she doesn’t even care if I’m in there touching them and they should be fertile she is in with my rooster 24/7

 

[cottontail farm]

Some of my hens get broody after 3 or 4 eggs some don't ever go broody. What breed is your hen? That makes a difference.

 

[Hailey Bug Hmz]

Some of my hens get broody after 3 or 4 eggs some don't ever go broody. What breed is your hen? That makes a difference.

She is a silver laced Wyandotte

 

[50-45-1]

some hens never go broody.

Dont leave the eggs in the nest. You are more than likely going to end up with rotten eggs or broken in the nest eggs.
Get some fake eggs or golf balls and put 3 or 4 of those in the nest and gather eggs daily.
Once you have a broody hen you can set aside eggs for 7 daYs before putting them under her.
Every hen does not brood. It depends on the individual hen.

 

[Hailey Bug Hmz]

some hens never go broody.

Dont leave the eggs in the nest. You are more than likely going to end up with rotten eggs or broken in the nest eggs.
Get some fake eggs or golf balls and put 3 or 4 of those in the nest and gather eggs daily.
Once you have a broody hen you can set aside eggs for 7 daYs before putting them under her.
Every hen does not brood. It depends on the individual hen.

Thanks if she decides not to brood I’ll just incubate them or maybe use one of my other hens most likely incubate I’m doing as a 4-H project so I can sell them one I have to many chickens and so I can have home grown chickens to show

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, @4-H Animal girl . You will know your hen is going broody when she stays on the nest a lot more than she is off of it. She will hunker down and kind of flatten out like a pancake and may kind of growl at you when you reach under her to see if she has eggs under her. She may peck at your hand, and at first she may not peck very hard but as the days go by she will peck harder and harder! She will not want to get off the nest but will want to keep the eggs warm. If she is getting off the nest and does not care if you handle the eggs, she is definitely not broody! I wish you luck in your 4-H project, with or without her help! Oh - if those eggs are more than a week old, get rid of them. Rotten eggs really stink!

 

[aart]

These are my go-to signs for determining broody status.
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
Are there feathers in the nest, and missing from her breast/belly?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks if she decides not to brood I’ll just incubate them or maybe use one of my other hens most likely incubate I’m doing as a 4-H project so I can sell them one I have to many chickens and so I can have home grown chickens to show

If your hen is not broody, you will need new eggs to incubate, not the ones she's already been getting on and off of. There's things to know about that, too, though. Start a thread asking how to start eggs for the incubator if you decide to do that, experienced people will help you.

Edit: spelling