Should I or should I not?

[TwoChicks]

Ok ... I was posed the question ... why don't I let the eggs sit and see if a hen goes broody?

My young EE's have started laying eggs in their nest boxes, should I leave them for a few days and see if one decides to collect a clutch to hatch?

If I leave them for a week, and she doesn't go broody, will the older eggs still be edible? What's the limit they can stay in a coop before becoming bad?

And NONE of my brown egg-layers are laying yet at 26 weeks of age.

 

[Jackie B.]

Hey!

From what I understand, you can't force a hen to go broody and leaving eggs will not help the cause. As far as leaving eggs in the next box, you can always do the float test to see if they're still good. Don't feel bad, my 24 week old SLW and BO aren't laying yet either....grrrrr

-Jackie

 

[TwoChicks]

Is the float test fairly accurate? I thought it was a wives tale.

Where in Greenville are you? We're neighbors! Have we met on the board before ... I had a period of a few weeks where I wasn't active ... and once I sleep more than four days in a row without doing something ... I start to forget things lol.



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[Jackie B.]

I believe it is. You can always search float test here in BYC and use your best judgement. I live on Paris Mtn right near Furman. So ready for the rediculous heat to be over with!

 

[gryeyes]

I suggest you just gather eggs daily (once they start laying) and then the day the hen is still sitting on the nest, puffs up her feathers and GROWLS at you, you then know she's gone broody.

However, some hens will "play" at going broody and aren't serious about it. They'll get up and go back to normal after a couple of days. If they stay on that nest (except for one or two short food and potty breaks) all day and all night (not going to roost on the roost bar) for 3 days, you got yourself a broody hen.

You really can't make them go broody. It's hormonal. They either do it, or they don't. Some never do. Some do routinely.

Good luck!

Oh, and the float test works: if the egg rises a little bit but doesn't float, it's "old." If it floats, the air cell in it has gotten large due to aging and evaporation of the moisture within the egg, and is bad.

 

[Ariel301]

If they are going to go broody, they will do so even on an empty nest, or just one or two eggs. If you really want to try getting them to sit by leaving a bunch of eggs, maybe try some fake ones? If it's hot outside, your eggs could go bad or start to develop on their own. Plus not collecting them very often encourages predators to eat them, or the hens to take up egg-eating.

 

[Armageddon]

I put some golf balls in a nest....the girls kicked them out of the way and layed their eggs....but a few days later I had one go broody and a week later, her sister joined her.....I dunno...maybe just dumb luck....