How to tell when to leave an eggs under my hen

[Allysha1990]

Hi, I was just wondering how i can tell when I should leave the eggs under my hen for her to hatch. She has been laying 1 a day so far, I actually just watched her lay one this morning. She lays in the same spot for about half an hour after she has laid.
When can I tell that she is laying out an egg to hatch, vs just an egg that we would eat? Or are they the same thing? Do hens lay multiple eggs at one time if they are fertile?

 

[Pooman]

Do you have a Rooster? No chance if being fertile if your dont.

The chook will tell you lol.... She will sit on the nest for most of the day and stay there at night not go to the roost, if you go near she should make weird noises at you and peck your hand maybe.

They will not lay multiple egg per day, but i have noticed in the weeks before a broody sets they will tend to lay a few more than normal

Hatching eggs and eating eggs are the same thing - if there is a healthy boy giving them a working over...

 

[Allysha1990]

Thanks, yes I have roosters. I have just been taking them as it is winter and I live in Manitoba so it gets down to around -30'c sometime into the -40s. The hen wasn't sitting on them when she first started laying, but today she was making broody warning noises at me and pecked my hand, so I thought perhaps she was getting ready. Do hens usually hatch out a clutch in winter? She only just started laying a few weeks ago so I thought perhaps she was behind schedule lol

 

[Pooman]

Hi,

Sounds like you have a broody, I will usually let them sit on golf balls for 3-4 days just to check they are doing it consistently, my birds sometimes take week to build up to sitting full time.

Once she is ready, and you decide you want chicks in the middle of snowy winter (can YOU deal with that?) then put the eggs you want to hatch under her, how many depends on the size of the botty lol, keep her secure but give access to grain, greens a large water bath she can sit in and some grit. Then candle at day 4 and day 12 to check progress and discard eggs.

You have also been keeping your eggs so they remain viable... Pointy end down, tilting everyday at room temperature??

Good luck, keep reading

 

[Allysha1990]

Hi,

Sounds like you have a broody, I will usually let them sit on golf balls for 3-4 days just to check they are doing it consistently, my birds sometimes take week to build up to sitting full time.

Once she is ready, and you decide you want chicks in the middle of snowy winter (can YOU deal with that?) then put the eggs you want to hatch under her, how many depends on the size of the botty lol, keep her secure but give access to grain, greens a large water bath she can sit in and some grit. Then candle at day 4 and day 12 to check progress and discard eggs.

You have also been keeping your eggs so they remain viable... Pointy end down, tilting everyday at room temperature??

Good luck, keep reading

Hi, I was thinking she was getting broody but she seems to bed laying an egg once every 2 days. I haven't been keeping them to hatch them, just wanted to know in case I decided to start hatching them out. This is all really great info for when I decide I want some chicks! For now I will keep eating them lol!

 

[LTygress]

They will ACT broody when they are actually laying an egg, too. About an hour before laying, one of my bantam hens will go sit in her nest, and become the meanest little.... well, you know what. But once that egg is out, she hops up and takes off like nothing happened during that hour.

The real key is when they start sleeping on the eggs at night. A fellow poster, Ridgerunner, mentioned his "two consecutive nights" rule, and it has worked for me. If a hen spends one night on the eggs, good for her, but she may not really be broody. And some will spend only one night in the nest, for whatever reason. Maybe it's a hormone fluctuation, or maybe they got pushed out of their favorite spot on the roost that night. But if she spends TWO consecutive nights on the eggs and still acts broody, then she should be ready to sit on them for the full 21 days and hatch them out.

And following that rule has saved me countless eggs from false alarms!