Wanted: general info on putting fertile eggs under a broody hen

[sandiegochick]

Hi All!

I am interested in possibly putting fertile eggs under one of my BO hens this spring... I do not have a roo, so I'd have to order hatching eggs from a hatchery. Do I have to wait until one of my hens goes broody? Do I have to separate her and the eggs from the other hens? Once the chicks hatch, will the other hens be a threat to them?

Any and all info would be greatly appreciated on this topic!

I love BYC!

 

[jenjscott]

Shipped eggs are iffy, if you can find someone local with eggs, you'd probably have a better hatch. You would wait till your hen went broody, then get your eggs. Slip them under her at night, and sit back and relax. She should be separated from the others but that is not difficult because she won't need much room, just enough to come off the nest once every day or two to eat, drink and poop. Separate because other hens will want to lay in her nest box, breaking eggs and adding extra eggs to the nest. Sometimes you can just block off the nest box she is in, so she is never completely separate from the flock, so no need to re-integrate. As long as they are not overcrowded, she will be able to defend her babies from the rest of the hens, but you can possible expect a loss or two. Make sure the nest is where the babies can get out but not fall out.

 

[Bedste]

that about covers it. I had a broody bantam and I replaced her bantam eggs with 5 RIR eggs. She was the best mom. She hatched 3 RIRs. When they hatch, they stayed in the nest under there mom and did not try getting out. She continued to stay until all the eggs were hatched. ( one was a dud and I killed one trying to candle it early on) After all the eggs were hatched I moved the nest (plastic crate) to ground level and turned it to its side so they could come and go. She protected them from all other hens. She talked to the chicks all the time and taught them how to scratch and eat worms and even when it was time to go to bed. It was awesome watching her with them. My Bantam roo also parented them. It was pretty kool.. The hardest thing for me was to leave them alone and let the mom do her job. LOL