Oh goodness, don't feel bad for jumping in. This is a friendly thread. Nobody picks on the newbies for being new. So welcome to BYC, and broodies. Ask all the questions you want.
It can be hard to find information on broodies, as they are almost a thing of the past. Modern agriculture doesn't use them anymore, as brooding is very inefficient for reproduction. The hen stops laying while she broods and raises the chicks, so that's a few months of egg production lost. Most "layer breeds" have had that trait selected out of them, so the only place you see broody hens now is with breeders of dual purpose purebred chickens who want to preserve the original traits of the breed, or with chicken hobbiests who just find it charming and enjoyable to see a hen raising chicks and aren't in it for the money, or with people who are so far off the grid that they don't have electricity for an incubator (although those people rarely post online either).
What makes a hen go broody is quite individual, and often unpredictable. Some hens will never go broody, no matter what you do. It's just not hardwired into them. Some will brood anytime they see a round object, and don't care that the rock they're sitting on will never hatch. Most hens that have the capacity to go broody will do so in the early to late spring, and may brood once every year, or 2-3 times a year, or 1-3 times in their life, or every 1-2 months, or any other regular or random schedule. It's VERY individual. Some hens won't ever brood until another hen starts brooding, and others are unaffected by other broodies in the flock. Some won't start brooding until a reasonable number of eggs (or egg substitutes) are available in a desirable location, so removing eggs from the nest daily will prevent brooding in some hens, and providing eggs will stimulate brooding in some hens (not all, or even most, but it does work for some). Some hens will brood regardless of nest options, and others require the perfect circumstances (nest location, privacy, temperature, light schedule, eggs already in nest, everything) before brooding. Some hens will start to brood, kind of try it out, but will only continue if everything is right. Others will brood quite deeply for as long as it takes to hatch the eggs, and have to have their "brood broken" to prevent them from brooding forever. Some broodies take very good care of themselves, leaving the nest 1-2 times a day to eat, drink, poop, stretch, dustbathe, etc, and others will starve to death in the nest if someone doesn't feed them. There's quite a range, and anything can happen. But when everything works as it should, it is a wonderful and amazing process to be part of.
Regarding your two questions, yes, you can put eggs in a nestbox to see if a hen will take the hint. It doesn't always work, but it won't hurt, and there's nothing lost other than a few eggs. I personally wouldn't put in the full dozen. A first time broody shouldn't have that many eggs, as that's overwhelming for a new mom. I'd probably put in 6, or 8 at the most. I wouldn't use the eggs that I want her to hatch, as she may not brood, or she may set on them casually, causing the embryo to start developing, then die when she doesn't commit to the task full time. I would either start with eggs that you don't care about, or golf balls, or ceramic eggs (don't bother with the plastic eggs -- yes they're only 69 cents instead of $1.39 at my feed store, but they're junk -- one person on another thread posted that her hen actually picked up the plastic eggs and threw them out of the nest one time). I use good quality ceramic eggs that look and feel like the real thing, and they have lasted over 5 years so far. One of my friends uses real eggs that are from her layer birds (as opposed to her breeder birds) and then hard boils them after a week and feeds them to the flock -- she doesn't believe in wasting any egg, but doesn't personally want to eat an egg that has been incubated for 2-7 days. Whatever you use, you're using it to determine if a hen is willing to commit to a brood before you give her the eggs that you really want to hatch. Once she's been brooding for a few days, you can decide if you want to move her to a better location. If so, do it at night. If you read back on this thread for a few weeks there's a link in one of my posts for the details of how to move a broody hen. After moving her, if you decide to do that, give her another 2 days to be sure that she will continue the brood, then put the chosen eggs under her at night. (Please ask if you have questions about selecting eggs for brooding, or storing eggs prior to brooding, or any other details.)
I'm not sure I understand your second question. Are you asking how long you should leave the eggs in the box before you give up on inducing broodiness by that method? Or how long the eggs can stay in the nest before they go bad and lose the ability to hatch (or worse, explode)? Or do you think you might have a broody hen now and want to use the eggs to determine if your hen is in fact broody? Or maybe something else? Sorry, just not sure what you're asking.
Please post again to let us know how thing are going. What breed is your hen, and how old is she? What kind of housing do you have for her, and how many other birds do you have?
Any help would be much appreciated!
