I have A broody hen been sitting on about 8 eggs for about 4 days now

[Crazy for Chickens!]

I agree with Bobbi-j. And yes, I used a permanent marker on my eggs. I don't know if that is exactly bad, but all six of my Fertile eggs hatched just fine!

 

[TexasSam]

I prefer to let my broodies hatch within the flock. I draw a circle around the eggs I want her to hatch so I can see at a glance which ones are hers. Then once a day, I go and just give her a quick lift, glance, remove extra eggs and put her down.

I just went and put a black dot on eight eggs hopefully that works

 

[bobbi-j]

I just went and put a black dot on eight eggs hopefully that works

The reason I draw a circle around the middle is, no matter how the egg is laying I can see it. The hen will roll those eggs around and rearrange them every day. If you only have a dot, you're going to have to handle every single egg to find it. That's fine - there's nothing wrong with that, but it will be much less stressful to your hen if you can just give her a quick lift, glance, grab extras and go.

 

[Bhapimama]

That is something to consider. Usually, they'll lay a clutch then start setting on them. They should all hatch at roughly the same time (within 24 hours or so of each other - mama will leave the nest with the babies once the figures all that are going to hatch have done so). The staggered hatch generally happens when other hens get into the nest and lay their eggs and those extra eggs aren't taken out of the nest daily. The best way to avoid this is to mark the eggs that were set at first, and take out the extras every day. If the other hens don't have access to the broody's nest, this isn't a problem.

This might seem like a dumb question but how do they lay a "clutch" that hatch within 24 hrs of each other? I thought chickens could only produce 1 egg every 25 hrs or so.....

 

[TexasSam]

The reason I draw a circle around the middle is, no matter how the egg is laying I can see it. The hen will roll those eggs around and rearrange them every day. If you only have a dot, you're going to have to handle every single egg to find it. That's fine - there's nothing wrong with that, but it will be much less stressful to your hen if you can just give her a quick lift, glance, grab extras and go.

Learning something new every day

 

[Andypandy]

My question is about how many days will it take before she hatches these eggs naturally. There is A polish three EE A cream legbar and two RIR eggs under her

Hi Texasam. A chicken takes around twenty one days to hatch her eegs

 

[TexasSam]

This might seem like a dumb question but how do they lay a "clutch" that hatch within 24 hrs of each other? I thought chickens could only produce 1 egg every 25 hrs or so.....

I have several hens 12 to be exact and 8 layed in the same spot that day and she is setting other hens eggs

 

[Kiki]

I have several hens 12 to be exact and 8 layed in the same spot that day and she is setting other hens eggs

Do you have a rooster?

 

[bobbi-j]

This might seem like a dumb question but how do they lay a "clutch" that hatch within 24 hrs of each other? I thought chickens could only produce 1 egg every 25 hrs or so.....

Not a dumb question at all! Unlike humans, the eggs don't start to develop immediately upon fertilization. The chick won't start growing until the egg has been incubated (artificially or under a broody) for 24 hours or so. That way they all start developing at the same time, and hatch at the same time. The broody won't start to set until she quits laying eggs during her broody cycle. She doesn't lay an egg, stay on the nest, lay another egg while staying on the nest, etc.

 

[TexasSam]

Do you have a rooster?

I do actually I have three but the bantam only like the bantam hen and the red leghorn so I now who the daddy is