How long are the eggs fertile for?

[farmerbrownsdaughter]

I can't have a rooster due to nieghbours, but have access to one so I would like to put my girls with him for a week or so
but I'm wondering how long the eggs will be fertile for? And how do I get the girls broody as soon as I get them home? Has anyone had sucsess this way?

 

[k2chickens]

on the eggs they say fertility decreases when they eggs get to about 7-10 days old. least that's what i have been told

 

[swheat]

I have never tried it that way, but your hen(s) (if in with a roo for a week) you should have fertile eggs for at least 2 weeks, maybe 3. How many hens? I would not put more than 6 or 7 per roo.
About getting hen to go broody??? Some breeds go broody fast some don't go at all. What kind of hens do you have ?

 

[farmerbrownsdaughter]

I have three banty hens, two cochins and a silkie.

 

[australorp_breeder]

A poultry judge from the UK is a friend of mine, and he told me a hen can lay fertile eggs for 10 days.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! Are you planning to do this now or in spring?
It's kind of late in the season for broody-hens, but you can try to 'encourage' them to go broody. Put 'fake eggs' in one of your nest boxes (or search for the link to 'making a hen broody'). Sometimes just a nest full of eggs is enough to trigger broody breeds like Silkies and Cochins.
As soon as you see one hen has gone broody, take the other 2 hens to visit the rooster (doesn't need to be a long visit, just a day-trip if the rooster does his job).
You'll probably have fertile eggs for 2 weeks.
So that doesn't give you a big window if you take all 3 hens to the roo.
Give the broody-hen as many of those eggs as she can cover and then try to encourage the other 2 to go broody if you want.
Doing it that way, at least you know you have one broody-hen to hatch your fertile eggs.
Good luck!

Lisa

 

[CHICKENBOY 1]

They Can Be Fertile From 6 To 10 Days Without Being In An Incubator.

 

[farmerbrownsdaughter]

Thanks for all the info! Nights are getting darn chilly now and I am not planning this till spring but I look forward to spring chickies!!

 

[wingin' it]

We also have Bantam Cochins and Silkies and have found our Cochins to be more broody. We have one sitting on 7 eggs now and she has been very dedicated. We tried it with a Silkie and she lost interest. I don't know if that is typical for those breeds, but we were told Cochins tend to be broody and it has held true for ours. Good luck!