New with some egg and behaviour related questions. Please help me.

[bobbi-j]

No, don't hang onto the eggs, eat them! Once your hen turns broody, you'll have more eggs for her to sit on.

Agreed - there is no way to predict when - or even if - one of your hens will go broody. Broodiness is a hormonal thing, and it happens when it happens. If you want to hatch eggs on your own schedule, you're better off getting an incubator.

 

[Dansoy]

but after she laid like 10+ eggs she will hopefully become broody right? .. she will have around 10 eggs by next week so i can put those 4 eggs back , instead eating them.. am i correct?

i'd like to have many chicks hehe.. but i never experienced having an broody hen yet. i hope shes broody next week.

 

[Dansoy]

Agreed - there is no way to predict when - or even if - one of your hens will go broody. Broodiness is a hormonal thing, and it happens when it happens. If you want to hatch eggs on your own schedule, you're better off getting an incubator.

sorry homehow i did not see your post yet.. now i know broodyness is unpredictible, thanks!..
I do have another hen that does not yet lay eggs yet but loves to sit .. but not for hours hehe:/

 

[Dansoy]

so i have hanged another basket, this one is deeper .. but they dont really seem to like it. they just take a look and only sit in it for a minut. the laying hen continues to lay in the 1st basket but does not yet like to be broody.. but a younger one likes to sit.

Can a hen be broody even before she starts laying her own eggs by the way?

 

[BonRae67]

Yes that is possible. They will get used to the new basket.

 

[bobbi-j]

so i have hanged another basket, this one is deeper .. but they dont really seem to like it. they just take a look and only sit in it for a minut. the laying hen continues to lay in the 1st basket but does not yet like to be broody.. but a younger one likes to sit.

Can a hen be broody even before she starts laying her own eggs by the way?

How long does that younger one spend in the basket? I highly doubt she is broody - probably just getting close to laying and checking things out. Spending a portion of the day in the nest doesn't mean she's broody. A broody hen usually refuses to leave the nest. She will sit there all day and all night, only getting off for short intervals once or twice a day to eat, drink and poop. The one that is laying has imprinted, so to speak, on that first nest. Chickens don't like change, so it's unlikely she'll move to the second basket.

 

[Dansoy]

Help .... My youngest hen i got like an week ago just flew away because it was dark.. i did not have a chance to put him back in hes cage now hes gone.. somewhere at one of our neighboors in a tree i guess.. Will he come back tomorrow morning???? When its light .. and he meight be hungry ..*?

 

[KelseyBoxer]

I know you are just starting out with chickens and you will learn more about them every day. Do you have roosts for these hens to rest and sleep on? Not the egg baskets, but comfortable roosts they can sleep on at nite? The roosts will make them safe and give them a place to settle in as it gets dark.

 

[lazy gardener]

Take all the eggs as they are laid, and eat them. As PP said, you can put some golf balls in the nest, or fake eggs, or nothing at all. If a hen decides to go broody, she will. Then, she'll turn herself into a pancake on the nest, stay there day AND NIGHT. She'll do this if she has a golf ball to sit on, an egg, or nothing at all! THEN, only when she's been on the nest day and night for 2 - 3 consecutive days, you can give her some fertile eggs to hatch. You might want to do some reading in the learning center about broody hens. Until then, go make an omelet!

 

[farnorth]

but after she laid like 10+ eggs she will hopefully become broody right? .. she will have around 10 eggs by next week so i can put those 4 eggs back , instead eating them.. am i correct?

i'd like to have many chicks hehe.. but i never experienced having an broody hen yet. i hope shes broody next week.

no, a hen can lay 100 eggs and never be broody. Dont bother saving eggs until you have a hen that sits in a nest and refuses to move out of it even to eat for days.

After you know for sure that you have a hen that is broody then save up about 10 -12 eggs and give them to her all at the same time. Discard any others she may have sat on .

When you do have a broody yes you can keep the eggs in your room until it is time to put them under hen. Always start them all on the same day. Mark them with a pencil so you can tell which eggs are started together. Otherwise the hen will abandon the rest of the eggs after the first ones hatch. You always want the eggs to all start at the same time and all hatch on the same day.

It is also best to separate the broody from the other hens or they will lay eggs in her nest while she is trying to hatch and the other hens may step on and break her eggs.

Also most hens only go broody about 1 to 3 times per year. Some never go broody at all.

If a hen does go broody she will sit on any hens eggs not just her own. Y