I need to get a broody.

[redranger209]

I would like one of my chickens to brood. I have 2 Buff Orpingtons, 4 Amaracaunas, and 3 Rhode Island Reds. I've already tried putting unfertle eggs with the fertile ones. Pls tell me whst to do. I'm trying to catch 5 White Leghorns, 2 Rhode Island Reds, and one sexlink.



Excuse the spelling errors.

 

[Pyxis]

Hello! Unfortunately you cannot force a hen to go broody. Some of the breeds you listed such as rhode island reds don't go broody very often, especially if you got your original stock from hatcheries because they tend to breed the broodiness out of them in favor of higher egg production. Buff orpingtons however are a very broody breed and one of you hens may go broody. You will unfortunately just have to wait for her to do it though, you can't make her.

If you want to hatch eggs on demand you might want to look into investing in an incubator Since it seems like you already have the fertile eggs, this would be be the best way to go if you don't want them to go to waste because after ten days their fertility will start to decline and they may not be viable to hatch. Otherwise, wait for a hen to go broody and then buy the eggs for her then.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hello! Unfortunately you cannot force a hen to go broody. Some of the breeds you listed such as rhode island reds don't go broody very often, especially if you got your original stock from hatcheries because they tend to breed the broodiness out of them in favor of higher egg production. Buff orpingtons however are a very broody breed and one of you hens may go broody. You will unfortunately just have to wait for her to do it though, you can't make her.

If you want to hatch eggs on demand you might want to look into investing in an incubator

Since it seems like you already have the fertile eggs, this would be be the best way to go if you don't want them to go to waste because after ten days their fertility will start to decline and they may not be viable to hatch. Otherwise, wait for a hen to go broody and then buy the eggs for her then.

X 2 -- forcing broodiness can not be forced - it either happens or it doesn't. One thing you can do is to put feelers out in your local area that you want a broody bird -- many folks who are focused on production don't appreciate a broody and if they are constantly dealing with "breaking" her will look to sell her out to someone who does want the tendency. An incubator is the most reliable, on demand, way to hatch.

Are you trying to catch or to hatch the breeds you listed at the end?

 

[redranger209]

I would like to hatch them.

 

[redranger209]

I've had the eggs for about 3 days now. I live in the suburbs, so i'm not sure if I can borrow a brooder.

 

[Pyxis]

I've had the eggs for about 3 days now. I live in the suburbs, so i'm not sure if I can borrow a brooder.

Then you might want to buy a small one if you have the money available. Styrofoam incubators aren't the best but they are fairly inexpensive and usually they sell them at feed stores.

Can you keep roosters where you live? If not you'll want to come up with a plan on what to do with the ones you hatch. Also if those numbers of birds you listed for the leghorns, RIRs, and sex links are the number of hens you'd like to hatch and keep, you'll need to hatch twice as many eggs as that to allow for roosters.

 

[redranger209]

I have a plan to mute any roosters I get. I might not even get any roosters. I was just going to start with the seven. I plan on having a flock of twelve hens and one rooster.

 

[redranger209]

My neighbor had a broody. Now I have 6 little buggers scampering around.