setting hens

[chicks rule]

Hey all, I was given two setting hens on Monday, today the guy gave me eggs for them to set on, will they go to the nest or is it hopeless, so far they haven't. All of my chickens aren't old enough to lay yet, so I'm not quite sure about the setting thing. Thanks

 

[chicks rule]

Well Hmmm, no one has dealt with this before??? So I went out earlier and closed them in for the night, about 30 mins later I go out and take the two setting hens and put them in the nest, when I left the coop they were still on the nests, so with any luck they will be there in the morning

It was 100/102 here today, heck they may hatch without a hen?????

 

[2mnypets]

LOL that could very well be true. The only thing I can think of is if you try to take the eggs and they get angry then I guess they are getting broody.

 

[bigzio]

The hens need time to realize this is home. Moving broody hens can always result in different results. If they are really truly broody they should sit, however if they feel unsafe they might change their mind.

bigzio

 

[fosterchick]

early this summer I gave two of my broody hens to a friend. One hen sat on the eggs within 24 hours and hatched out the babies. That hen is now sitting on another batch of eggs. But the second broody hen never sat on the eggs and still hasn't sat yet. So I would guess that in some case it moving them can bother their broody cycle.

 

[chicks rule]

Thanks all for your reply's. Well after I put them on the nest at roosting time all was well, however the next morning was another story, one egg was broken in the nest, another was on the coop floor unbroken. So now I have moved the two setting hens to isolation sort of and put the eggs back in with them, so we shall see

If it works it works and if it doesn't I will go back to waiting patiently, yea right

 

[chicks rule]

Ok so I isolated these two hens, put the eggs in with them, they set on them at night and off and on during the day, What are the chances I might get a hatch????

 

[rhjack66]

If eggs get cold or they are off over I'd say and hr in this type of weather they probably want hatch.
I did have a hen that got out of her nest back in the winter and could not get back in I was not sure how long she was off but eggs where cold and it was a week befoer there hatching date. I took a chance and let her set back on them and 2 out of 5 eggs hatched. The other 3 had a dead chick in them. Good luck!!