sneaking eggs under a broody?

[BantyHugger]

I have a broody hen (d'uccle) who just started. She seems to be hoarding the standard sized eggs (unfertilized by our roo) so i was thinking of slipping some different, fertile eggs under her. Do i need to do anything special like sneaking in at night? Or will she not care if i do the switch in broad daylight?

 

[jbowen9]

It usually is up to the hen as in how broody she actually is and so on but i do most of mine with a flashlight but its because i work during daylight hours

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

With mine (silkies) I just lay the new eggs in front of them and they quickly shove them up underneath themselves. So far as taking out the hoarded ones, I just pick them hen up and take the eggs out that shouldn't be there. The hens grumble and fuss, but if I distract them with new eggs they settle back down. I do it in broad daylight.

Good luck!

 

[vickie2133]

I did that just this week, I think she may have to many under her now, but she is covering them all. I guess we shall see.

 

[BantyHugger]

Ug, i just went to see exactly what she has under her. She has 11 standard eggs! This is a 1 1/2 lb bird for cryin out loud! Is it even possible for her to hatch this many eggs? How many banty eggs could she hatch?

 

[vickie2133]

my hen has 19 eggs under her.

 

[BantyHugger]

Quote:

How big is she?

 

[vickie2133]

she is a large hen, and she had seven eggs under her. I started adding some more, and she covered them all. I didnt' think she could. I will check them and see how they are forming later.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I do my switching at night, just to insure success. I smoothly scoop out the old eggs and place the new ones right by her breast. It's fun to watch the hen bend her neck and scoop the new eggs one by one deep beneath her, then do a chickie cha-cha to get them all settled in just right.

There are some broodies who are so dedicated you could strap them to a rocket & shoot them to the moon in broad daylight and when they landed in a crater they'd scoot over to the nearest moon rocks and begin to incubate them. But others are much more easily disrupted, so I prefer to do my stealthy work at night.

I have bantams that want to incubate their tiny eggs but I give them standard-sized eggs instead because I prefer the bigger chickens. I just give them 4-6 eggs, though I'm sure they could incubate more. The last bantam I switched had a surprise in store for me. I thought I took away all the bantam eggs & gave her 4 standards. But when her clutch hatched, there was 1 unexpected banty baby along with 4 larger siblings.

 

[BantyHugger]

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Ok thanks i think i'm going to try giving her 6 eggs and see how she does with them. She has never set before. I can't wait!