How many days can I save a fertilized egg before putting them under a broody? How many eggs will the broody lay and will they hatch at the saame time or over a period of days?
Save all your eggs for 10 - 14 days. Make sure you keep them cool and turn at least once a day. When you get the clutch ready for her to set give them all back to her at one time. Keep other hens away from her because they will continue to lay eggs in her nest. If she keeps laying she is not broody. I would watch her for a week. If she sits on a golf ball and doesn't move, growls and acts aggressive when you come near she is getting broody. Simply collecting eggs and then putting them under her will not influence her to brood. Some hens NEVER go broody and won't raise chicks at all in their lifetime. If you do get a broody don't keep adding eggs to her nest. When they start to hatch she'll get off the nest with the chicks and will not continue to sit on the other eggs.
Quote:everything she said ^^^^ lol Some breeds like silkies always go broody, other breeds will almost never go broody.
Store these fertile eggs in a place where the temps are around 45-60 degrees. Some people store theirs in a refrigerator, but I have found that a fridge is a bit too cold. Maybe it's because my wife likes ours to be around 33 degrees. When we stored our fertiles at that temp, I lost about 50% of them. Since storing them in our unheated basement (around 50-55 degrees), our hatch rate has gone up a lot. Be sure to warm the eggs at room temp (around 70-75 degrees) before putting in the incubator. Good luck!
