Questions about broody hens and hatching?

[Yoshii]

I had a few chickens a while ago, but when I did, I only had hens and I never tried to hatch eggs. But, I'm about to finally get some of my favorite feathered friends once more. My breed of choice is/was silkies, so broodiness obviously wouldn't be a problem, heh. But, I was wondering...

If I got some fertilized eggs while a hen of mine was broody, could I introduce these eggs to her and have her hatch them (reliably)? If so, how would I go about doing so? How many eggs would I want to introduce? And all of that jazz, just lookiong for some general advice xD. Thanks!

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

Yes, you can add some extra eggs once a hen is broody.

Usually, they will take them. The key is to slip them in in the evening, when she's calmer. Put them in one at a time, putting them under her from the back. You just need to put it barely under her, and she should then adjust it with her beak. Silkies are small chickens, so they can't sit on as many at a time... 6-8 full size eggs?....I've read in in the other broody hen threads. Take a look at a few of them, it'll say.

PS gardening gloves are very handy when working with a broody..... prevents some of the 'ouch'

 

[Yoshii]

Oooh, thanks so much for the advice!

 

[ZuniBee]

I decided to put some extra eggs under my broody. I collected two and didn't know what to do so I just set them in front of her and she scooped them right under her.