New to hatching and have some questions

[bamachick1980]

I have six eggs in my nestbox. We think one of our hens may be broody but not sure. The girls layed 2 eggs yesterday and 4 today. I have a few questions. 1) When would we know if our hen is broody and planning on hatching these eggs? 2) How long can the eggs sit in the nest before we take them and hatch them ourselves? 3) If we remove the eggs and put them in an incubator would they have the same hatch day or would the days be based on when they were layed?

 

[easttxchick]

Is your hen sitting on eggs in a nest box right now?

 

[bamachick1980]

She will sit and lay in that box but she doesn't stay in the box. She guards the box. She sits in front of it and runs all the other chickens away. She won't even let them in the coop while she's laying. I have been putting the eggs from the other boxes in there with her eggs when I catch her out. So I'm wondering what she's doing. Does this sound normal? What should I do with her?

 

[easttxchick]

I have a hen that screeches whenever any of the other birds come into the coop while she is laying. I'm just not sure your girl is broody-she may be pondering it.

If I am correct, and hopefully someone else can tell you more than me, the eggs should be good for a max of 10 days if stored at a cool temp. before they are not good for incubation.
So sorry I can't be of more help to you.
Good luck to you!

 

[chickenlittle32]

May not be broody yet...if you decide to incubate them yourself...they will all hatch at the same time...it goes on when they start the incubation process.