I have a Barred Plymouth Rock hen who has been sitting in a nesting box for three days now. We've taken the eggs, but she still stays there. We do not have any roosters right now, so no eggs are fertile anyway. We were just talking about ordering some more day old chicks anyway, so we are now thinking about getting some fertile eggs and letting her hatch them. I've never done this before, is it tricky? What do I have to do? If I get fertile eggs from someone local, how must they be treated/handled in order to still hatch? Does she need to be seperated from the other hens? Thank you!!
She will do much better if you separate her. There is a way to do that so that Broody does not get upset. I do not have the link handy, but if you want it I will try to find it. There are many many eggs for sale on this forum. If you can find them locally that is good also. Just put them in a coolish room and let them rest for a while. There is disagreement as to how long, but it should be large end up. Catherine