I got my first egg!

[foureyeddragon]

My cranky chicken must finally be feeling at home because last night when I went to clean out the coop there was an egg in the nest I made for her! I was so excited I called just about everybody that I know. She kept looking at it like she wasn't quite sure what it was or why it was there, poor thing. However, my question is, she has only been away from the rooster for about a week and a half. Could this egg be fertilized? I kept it warm all night, but she didn't sit on it at all during the day, she was out roaming the yard.

The other good news is that she has started to sprout feathers on her back from where the rooster attacked her, and the nasty wound she had under her wing is now covered in pink skin.

 

[amillecay]

That's great!! I remember getting my first egg i did the same thing you did!
She won't be sitting on it unless she is broody which since she was up and walking around she is not broody.

 

[foureyeddragon]

What exactly does being broody or not being broody mean?

 

[amillecay]

A chicken that is broody has decided to hatch a clutch of eggs so there are some things you will see that can tell you they are broody.

Broodiness
Your hens may go "broody" at any time in their life. This is when they stubbornly insist on sitting on eggs in order to hatch them into baby chicks. It doesn't matter if the eggs are fertilized or not; some hens will even go broody on golf balls or wooden eggs!
If you have a rooster and want baby chicks, great! But if you don't have a rooster, there are several reasons why you won't want broodiness. First, a broody hen gets grumpy when you try to collect the eggs from underneath her. She might even peck you, so beware! Second, because the eggs are not fertilized, the heat of your hen sitting on them will cause them to decompose at a faster rate - and you want to eat them, don't you? Third, a broody hen plucks out her own breast feathers to line the nest. Ouch! And all for nothing! Finally, a broody hen will just sit and sit on her nest, not eating or drinking as much as she normally would. This will weaken her and deprive her of much-needed nutrients.
You can break broodies to if you don't want them broody too which is not to hard if you type in the search box on this website about breaking them you will find something.


So those are some of the things that shows you have a broody, feather pecking off chest, getting very grumpy, they may walk around with their wings out like and airplane showing they are protecting the eggs, etc.

 

[foureyeddragon]

Ah okay, well none of that behaviour yet, like I said she kept looking at the egg like it was some kind of foreign object that might jump up and eat her at any moment.

 

[amillecay]

lol! Well if it was her first egg I could see that

 

[foureyeddragon]

I expected some kind of squabble from her at me taking the egg, but she just kept looking at it, cocking her head, moving to the other side of the nest, looking at it some more. It was pretty funny.

 

[amillecay]

haha sounds like it was! she was thinking what in the WORLD is that?