New broody hen... new mom to broody!

[GenevieveHad]

Hi There! I’m new to the whole chicken keeping business, and am the proud mamma to 6 hens and two days ago two Roos (who are now happy on a farm outside of town)... anyways, I didn’t think my hens would start laying until September, so I wasn’t prepared to find TWO green eggs in the coop this morning! One was in the nesting boxes and the other was in the coop in a corner. I put them together and tried to get the mamma hen to sit, and she laid another green egg in the same spot. She sat for awhile and I tried to get her to move to a nesting box, which is where I think I might’ve messed up, because her “nest” is under the roosting bars. So I moved them back because she was pacing frantically. She sat on them for a bit and now is neglecting them..l not sure what I should do as I’m not exactly sure how old the other two eggs are, or if she’ll sit on them, or if they’ll have started to incubate and then not being sat on they won’t be viable. I’ve been checking on her periodically to see if she’s gone back to sitting but she hasn’t. She’s just sort of standing there on the roost though acting funny... I’m attaching pics. Any tips/tricks/advice I will gladly take!!! These are literally our first three eggs! So exciting and terrifying! Thank you :v)

 

[wamtazlady]

When your hen sits on the eggs and won't move and growls at you when you go near her, then and only then is she broody. When a hen stays in the nest nearly 24 hours a day, then she's broody. Most chickens lay eggs and never go broody. You can't force her to go broody. It's a hormonal thing. Young pullets may spend more time in a nest as they are checking it out and getting a feel for what laying an egg will be like. Sitting in the nest for an hour is not being broody. It is just showing an interest and preparation for laying an egg.

I'm assuming you have Easter Eggers. They aren't known for their broodiness. Some breeds of chickens go broody quite often. As I said earlier, some breeds seldom go broody.

I'd suggest you plan on eating your eggs, at least until one of your girls goes broody. To encourage your birds to lay in the nest you might want to get some fake eggs to put in the nest. Golf balls also work.

 

[GenevieveHad]

Thank you for the advice!