Setting hen?

[Laura West]

I have a hen in my flock that I've noticed is staying on a nest, but not continuously. This evening, there were 3 eggs in the nest but I think one egg wasn't hers because it had a different color & she wasn't on the nest. I didn't know whether I should collect them or not? How do I know if this hen or other hens in my flock are wanting to set?
Thanks in advance for any feedback,
Laura

 

[MrsEskew]

Ohhh believe me, when a hen wants to go broody, she will definitely let you know. She will lay continuously on the eggs and when you get anywhere near her or her eggs she will fluff up and make herself look bigger, and make a growling noise. Then peck you if you try to get the eggs. They turn into little she devil's.

 

[aart]

I have a hen in my flock that I've noticed is staying on a nest, but not continuously. This evening, there were 3 eggs in the nest but I think one egg wasn't hers because it had a different color & she wasn't on the nest. I didn't know whether I should collect them or not? How do I know if this hen or other hens in my flock are wanting to set?
Thanks in advance for any feedback,
Laura

I collect eggs daily....a broody will sit on nothing if they are truly broody.

These are the signs I look for:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, doesn't she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Do you want a broody to hatch some chicks?