what do I do if I want my chicken to hatch her eggs?

[chicksnducks]

I have 17 chickens but only one is old enough to lay. She lays just about every day. I have left the last two eggs in the nest.
but now what? will she sit on them? and how often? is it ok that she gets off them?...I am new at this ....help!

 

[hatchcrazzzy]

it has to do with what kind of chicken it is.also some chicken set and some dont .if they want to set they will .there is no way to force them

 

[CarriBrown]

One quick question- Do you have a rooster?
Take the eggs out every day until she goes broody. You can't make them hatch eggs... they have to want it.
You'll know you have a broody hen when she sits on a nest all day and gets upset if you remove her. A broody hen will do anything she can to get back to her nest and does not like to be disturbed. She will "growl" at anyone who comes near her. Some are worse than others- I have a hen that doesn't mind being pet when she sits, but then I have another who will peck. A broody will also collect eggs that were laid by other hens. She will get off her nest and roll the eggs over to add to her clutch.
She will need to incubate the eggs for 21 days. She will stay on her nest most of the day, leaving for just little spurts at a time. When your hen goes broody, it's very important to make sure she has easy access to food and water (as in, put it right next to her so she doesn't have to leave her nest), and I've found that my broodies will eat more if I give them fresh veggies and fruit along with their normal food. A broody will pull her breast feathers out and loose weight from not eating as much.
It's also important that the hen is moved (at night so it's less stressful) to a place where she can have some privacy. I bring my broody inside the house and put her in a big plastic storage bin (no lid, of course) and let her sit there.
Once the babies hatch, they can live in there with momma. I never put a cover on the brooder because momma doesn't want to leave her babies but likes to jump on top of the brooder to flap her wings. She then jumps right back down to the babies. Trust me, you will not find momma hen wandering around the house!

Once the babies feather out a bit (about three weeks), I put them outside in their own area. I've found that mom is ready to get back to the single life after 4-6 weeks.

 

[chicksnducks]

so do we just leave the eggs in the nest?.... Momma chicken came with two chicks and they are in the ugly stage now and she only protects them at night in the coop....during the day they fend for themselves.
Yes we do definately have one rooster and possibly two...not 100 % sure about the second one.....

 

[CarriBrown]

Take the eggs out every day until she starts sitting. Then you can either give her eggs or let her incubate the eggs she lays.

 

[tiffanyh]

Is the rooster old enough to fertilize the eggs?

 

[chicksnducks]

How old does the rooster have to be to fertilize the eggs? He is a 14 week old....cornish cross..pretty big and he does get the ladies!

now..if I take the eggs from her, where do I put them? Do they need to be refridgerated or should I leave them in the barn?

thanks for all the info....I feel pretty dumb about this stuff!

 

[BirdBrain]

Cornish Cross--are you referring to the white broiler birds by this name, or some other variety?

 

[brooster]

yea i think you should have butchered him that is not a pet chicken i mean his off spring will not be good layers and he may develop leg problems. If you are breeding him with another cornish cross the off spring will not be a cornish cross it will be like a rock or a corish, but not breed true

 

[BirdBrain]

Your best bet is to scramble the eggs, roast the roo, and buy in an adult rooster if you want fertilized eggs now. Otherwise ask around here for someone who might have an extra roo that they would be pleased to part with. There really isn't any way you can hurry nature. If you keep your cornish cross you may come out one day soon and find that he had dropped dead of heart failure...they do that if they are left to grow too old. These are the variety that are usually butchered at 6-8 weeks, so for your guy to be 14 weeks old is like saying he is Methuselah in Cornish Cross time.