what do you do if you WANT a broody hen?

[watersoflethe]

i just recently got myself some full grown silkies thanks to onthespot.
they are beautiful and sweet and i love them and i would love to hatch some chicks from them.
i do not have an incubator and since i only raised production layers i haven't really had much experience with a hen going broody.
if i want her to sit on her eggs...do i leave the eggs in there?
someone suggested gathering and putting them back in her nest box when i have around 5 or 6. what is the best way for me to get some silkie babies?

 

[RoninComputing]

Leave the eggs in the nestbox, you might want to mark them (date) so you know how old they are.
If the hen goes broody, leave the marked eggs under her... remove any new laid to prevent there being too many to brood successfully.
The rest is up to the chickens hormones.... somthing we don't have any real control over.

 

[shawnm2639]

I am sure someone with more knowledge then me will answer but my first thought was don't collect the eggs and

 

[ColoradoMike]

If you were closer, I'd say just come and get my California White! She's been broody for a month - her second broody cycle and she's only a year old! Not only that, but I don't have a rooster, so I have to gather the eggs from our other two hens from beneath her every day!

 

[shawnm2639]

Quote:
Something I didn't know enough to do and am now sorry I didn't. My other chickens kept going in there and pushing my old english's off the nests ..laying an egg ...and leaving.

Poor banties had 10 to 18 eggs under them...of course they couldn't hatch them all but they gave it a good go. I am just surprised any of the eggs hatched.

 

[carriehelene]

Take one of mine

Holy Jeez, this is my 4th for the season already. So far my silkie, gwl, serama, and banty cochin have all gone broody on me. And one of my lf cochins is threatening to do it now. She's not to good at it so far, thank goodness. This was after 4 sets in the incubators. Next year I'm just gonna order eggs when my chickens go broody, save myself the aggrevation of the incubators.

 

[carriehelene]

Ok, for a serious reply to a serious question. My serama was the first to go, when my silkie saw her doing it, she decided it would be fun to join in. So maybe leaving the eggs in the nest would work to kick in her hormones. Good luck, broodies are alot of fun to watch. I will say however, my silkie is also the only one who bites me when I reach under her. The others just growled and raised their feathers. Good thing for me she doesn't bite hard enough to hurt me.

 

[gritsar]

I would suggest you leave golf balls or some other "egg like" item, not real eggs. Real eggs can get broken during the nestbox shuffle and you don't want your chickens discovering how tasty raw eggs are.
When she's good and broody, THEN give her real eggs.

 

[watersoflethe]

thank you for all the advice. how long are eggs good for when they are just left at room temperature? i mean not to eat but to hatch someday..
also how many can a hen brood?