Newbie

[Teri Willey]

Got a Bantam hen, who appears Broody. She has been laying on one egg since yesterday. How do I know if it is fertilized or not? yes, I have a Rooster. Can I put any/all eggs I want to hatch under her? will she lay more?

 

[Chickenloving]

Welcome to BYC!!

You can put as many eggs as she can hold under her. You can't tell if a egg is fertilized you just have to wait. Hens don't lay while setting.

 

[Teri Willey]

Thank you ! I shall wait. It's pretty exciting

 

[Whittni]

Put all the eggs you want under her that she can cover all the way. Broody hens stop laying eggs all together. To tell if the eggs are fertilized let her sit on them for a week or so and take a flashlight and look through the egg. Fertile eggs will have vains (do it in a dark place or in the coop at night).

 

[sourland]

I agree - give her as many as she can cover. Mark the eggs so that if any other hens add eggs to the nest they can be removed. If possible make her nest site inaccessible to all other chickens.

 

[Teri Willey]

THANKS EVERYONE, if anything else you know may be helpful please share.

 

[sourland]

It is good for the hen to leave the nest daily to eat, drink, defecate and occasionally dust bathe. Some times when feed and water is kept immediately adjacent to the nest, hens will defecate in the nest and spoil the clutch. I never keep feed and water within reach of the setting hen, and make sure that all hens leave the nest at least once a day.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Good luck with your broody. I hope you have lots of chicks soon!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with your broody hatch. There are also a couple of nice articles in the Learning Center on broody hens you might like to check out https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks and there is a long thread on using broody hens to hatch eggs hatch-a-long thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ody-hen-hatch-a-long-and-informational-thread

 

[gander007]