How to hatch eggs

[jessmg1987]

I am trying to get my hens to hatch eggs for the first time. I have marked six eggs in a pile and want them to hatch. I noticed that none of my hens are laying on the eggs at night. will they still hatch? the only time i see them laying on eggs is when they are most likey laying eggs. Do i need to actually place the eggs under the chicken or will she lay on them herself

 

[dheltzel]

Your hens are not yet "broody", you might as well eat the eggs, or buy an incubator if you want chicks. You will know, beyond any doubt, when one of them becomes broody, she won't leave the next for more than a few minutes to eat and drink, she'll make a clucking noise when you get close to her, and may peck at you. Finally, she'll likely pull or lose some breast feathers (better skin contact with the eggs).

When all that happens, you can get fertile eggs and put them under her, but until then, your efforts are in vain. Some hens never go broody, some seem to spend half their life trying to hatch anything that will be still. Some breeds are more prone to broodiness, but there are exceptions to those rules.

 

[blucoondawg]

They will only sit on the eggs when they are broody. Some say there are ways to coax them into broodiness but I have not really read up on this. No your eggs won't hatch if the hen isn't sitting on them, and they don't sit on them at night, they sit on them 24 hours a day with the exception of getting up to eat or poop. You are best off watching the hens and when one shows signs of broody behavior giving her some eggs to hatch

 

[jessmg1987]

They are def broody. My Rhode island reds stay in the coop all day clucking and making noises even though i let them out. Im just wondering if her sitting on them in the day is enough for the eggs to hatch.

 

[dheltzel]

They are def broody. My Rhode island reds stay in the coop all day clucking and making noises even though i let them out. Im just wondering if her sitting on them in the day is enough for the eggs to hatch.

No, they must sit on them all the time to get the eggs to hatch. If they are not sitting on the eggs at night they aren't ever going to hatch anything. I've never seen a broody hen that left her eggs voluntarily for more than an hour (and never more than 5 minutes unless it's so hot they won't cool anyway.

If they are broody, they are doing a terrible job of it, but I still maintain they are just making clucking noises for their amusement and aren't actually planning to hatch anything.