Is it too late to try and hatch?

[bigchickens]

My chickens are Black Jersey Giants, hatched May 2009, I have tried to mark eggs and get them hatched since April of this year, none of my hens seem that interested in sitting...Are they just immature? Maybe I need to take 2 of my more mature hens and separate them with my dominant rooster from the rest of the flock?

I would really like to get some chicks from my one roo, and two of my hens especially, they just came back with blue ribbons from the fair, and I already have people waiting in line to get some of their babies, not to mention, I would like to add to my flock.

 

[bigchickens]

OH, and just because I have 2 roos with my hens, that doesn't mean all the eggs I find will be fertilized, right? So I have to check them before I try to hatch them? Sorry I am really new at this, and all summer have been trying to leave it to the hens to do the job, but thats obviously not working....

 

[Lotsapaints]

take the one roo out that you didn't really want to breed and leave the other one in and get you an incubator.....next thing you know you'll be over run with chicks and just how would you check those eggs before you set them? I candle mine first then put them in check @ 10 days toss any clears and check again @ 18 days and watch them hatch. I have a turn X it's almost a set and forget incubator as far as getting an incubator you get what you pay for so don't go cheap unless you want a lot of grief

 

[gryeyes]

In case you didn't know it, many chicken breeds have had the "broodiness" bred out of them. A hen has to be broody in order to hatch eggs - and that's something hormonal, over which you have no control. Layers, particularly (breeds raised primarily to produce eggs) don't go broody, because it cuts down on egg production.

There are many breeds which are known to "go broody" but there are many exceptions to this "rule." Some hens you would never expect to go broody - such as Rhode Island Reds, for instance - will go broody. Orpingtons are one of the breeds known for hens going broody. Check out http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html to see if the breeds you have are some which may go broody for you.

You cannot MAKE a hen go broody. She either will, or will not, and on her own schedule. She may go broody once and never again, or over and over and over again, hatching many clutches of chicks.

You just gotta wait until you discover a hen sitting in the nest OVERNIGHT, not leaving to roost, and puffing up her feathers and making odd sounds when you reach to check under her for eggs. Then you got a broody!

My Buff Orpington went broody earlier this year, hatching out a single chick out of 5 eggs. Now I have a Welsummer who went broody late last week.

Good luck! Hope you get a broody or two in your flock!

 

[bigchickens]

Thankyou everyone! very helpful info!