my first broody UPDATE!! theyre hatching..now with pics!!

[BekahBear]

(((UPDATE on post #11)))

one of my EE hens went broody about a week ago.

her name is Skittles. we had been calling her Lacy but after a really funny mishap a month ago her name is now Skittles. our 3 year old DD went outside with me to collect eggs. next thing i know she is crying and telling me the chicken stole her candy. i looked over just intime to see Lacy running away holding a Skittles bag in her beak and the entire rest of the flock waddling full speed after her wanting to get their share lol. so her new and forever name is Skittles

well she decided to go broody and i plan on setting some eggs under her today. i've been collecting eggs for a few days now and setting them aside so i could give her some. my question is..how many eggs should i give her. 8? 10? 12? how many eggs can a standard sized chicken cover?

here are some pics of the mommy to be.

a couple pic from b4 she went broody

and from today

she thretened to peck my eyes out if i got any closer lol

 

[Kittymomma]

My EE is setting on 12 turkey eggs right now. I'd say between 12-15 (less is always an option, just not one most of us are familer with, lol) would be about right. If after a hour or two you can still see eggs showing from under her she has too many and you should take a couple away.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

12-15...any more and she might crack them getting off and on the nest when she does get off to eat and drink.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

I have a Banty that sat on 16 and hatched 14.

 

[gryeyes]

Skittles is gorgeous! Even WITH that broody "I'm going to kill you" expression!

I think people who put LOTS of eggs under first time broodies are very brave. I'm only sticking with the 3 eggs mine chose to go broody with - and only one of them was even hers.

But the other day I was driving down a nice street and saw a hen and her clutch of 13 chicks just free ranging away in various front yards. (Yes, various; I stopped to watch her for a while.) She even managed to maneuver them crossing the street!

It amazes me. I'm going to be thrilled if ANY of my broody Buffy's eggs hatch!

 

[Bloomie]

Very Cool! Another bruday pahtay.

I been tryin' like the dickens to get my broody to hatch 6 eggs....been a week now and after candling them tonight it apears they're viable.
I gave her a private space with a nest box, water & food......and she got pooooooop on ALL the eggs!
Now what???????
Any of ya ever had this problem?

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

we put 8 under our first time broody Buff Orpington, 5 of the 8 eggs hatched & she is doing very well with those so to me I wouldnt put more than 8 to 10 under her!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I love how she got her new name! I can just picture the look on your daughter's face!

Good luck with Skittles being broody! She sure looks determined with that stink eye!

 

[chickee]

What a cute story!

Skittles~ I love it!! I have a first time broody who has been sitting on golf balls in the nest for weeks now. I finally decided to start a couple of eggs in the incubator to give to her. Since she and I have never done this before I only felt comfortable trying her with two eggs. There is also the issue of room for more chickens since I have 16 chicks right now from three different hatches of shipped eggs. GOOD LUCK!

 

[BekahBear]

thanks guys. i was originally planning on giving her 10 eggs or so. i had collected 16 during the couple days i was saving them for her. i decided to just go all out and give her all 16. i put them under her last night. she seems to be covering them just fine so far. she was able to get off the nest and back on no problem when she went for her break today(she seems to take her break at the same time each day...around 11am..chickens seem to have a very accurate internal clock). it was funny. she was off of the nest for maybe 5 min total. she got a drink of water then chased the others away from the feeder so she could have as much as she wanted, rolled in the dust bath area real quick...then she left a poop bigger than an extra large egg on her way back to the nest.