My first EE egg! What next?

[happyhatcher1981]

Read through this...it might help you understand more.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-this-what-broody-means.1241519/

Cool!! Will take a look

 

[Cryss]

You mention you don’t really understand what broody means. Let’s see if I can shed a bit of light on the subject. Anything I miss or get wrong I’m sure others can correct or add more information.
Unlike with mammals (including humans) for chickens it isn’t enough for an egg to be fertilized by the male. The female can have been mated and be laying eggs that are fertile, but if she isn’t being affected by the hormonal event referred to as broodiness the egg will never develop a chick. When broody the hen will have an overwhelming urge to sit on top of eggs. Her urge is to keep them very warm at all times. She will not leave the nest except to run out for a sip of water, a quick gobble up of food, and a fast poop. Her body will stop laying eggs while she is broody. She will sit on any eggs available even if they aren’t her own. Other hens that laid those eggs won’t mind one bit because they aren’t broody. The broody hen is keeping the eggs very warm which will stimulate the fertilization to kick in. Only when she has sat and kept them very warm will a chick begin to develop. She will sit like this for 3 weeks till they hatch. Once they have hatched and she has raised them a couple weeks she will soon start laying eggs again but won’t be driven with broodiness to sit on them.
If there is no broody hen in a flock then fertilized eggs won’t develop (unless you put them in an incubator and hatch them yourself). Pop those in the frypan!
If you have a broody hen but you don’t want her to hatch chicks at that time you will need to remove eggs and also break her of her broodiness. The same is true if you have a broody hen but you have no rooster in your flock. The eggs won’t be fertile but she will sit if allowed which is not good. She possibly will not eat or drink while waiting for chicks that never happen. Her health will suffer and could even die.
Lot’s more to learn. Ask questions about absolutely anything. Everyone here wants everyone else to be successful raising chickens.

EDIT: I see others have you some excellent links while I was typing. Isn’t this a great bunch of helpful chicken lovers? Enjoy your new endeavor and know you can get answers as you learn and grow!

 

[aart]

I see others have you some excellent links while I was typing.

I hope you just missed reading the other posts, and didn't spend an hour+ writing yours

 

[Cryss]

I hope you just missed reading the other posts, and didn't spend an hour+ writing yours

Yeah, I missed them. I did get interrupted numerous times by various family members so it took several tries to finish.