WoooT It's a great day!

[thefishery]

I've got 2 eggs in a nest!

We haven't had an egg since mid summer. Poor Henny!

Henny is my first hen, she's been living here with us for a year with her roo buddy, Jake. I had added some new nests and they were fluffed up with a mixture of wood chips and straw. I noticed someone had been in each box, mashing down the bedding. Looking closer there I saw two beautiful light brown eggs!

It's been a looooong time since Henny has laid an egg. She's had a lot of traumatic experiences to cause her to stop laying.

1) My neighbor killed many of my chickens
2) I added two new pullets
3) A dog killed one of the new pullets


So as you can imagine, this has been a horrible past few months! I'm glad she is putting the past behind her!!

We love you Henny Penny!!

Now what to do with the eggs? Should I leave them and let her hatch them? I really would like some more eggs

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Congratulations on the eggs! If poor Henny is not broody right now then there will be no point in leaving the eggs in the nest.
You go Henny!!!!

 

[thefishery]

can I collect them and then put them out later for her to set on? do I just keep them in the fridge until she is broody?

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

fertile eggs are only good for about 10 days. if you put them in the fridge then you stop the growth process all together. The best would be to let her lay her eggs as normal and collect them every day and either eat them or incubate them. Wait for her to start showing broodiness before you let her set eggs.

 

[Mrs. K]

oh no, once in the fridge they are done. When you keep eggs for a broody hen, you can keep them surprisingly a long time, to me anyway, a week, I think, but it must be at room temperature. Do not put any fertilized eggs in the fridge that you want to hatch. Once however, the hen sits on them, and really warms them up, then they must be kept warm, and if she leaves the nest long enough for them to cool, and sometimes they will, well that batch is a goner.

The thing is you can't keep eggs till she goes broody. Hens lay eggs all the time with absolutely no intention of raising chicks. Then for no reason I can see, they get the notion to go broody. THEN you start collecting eggs to put under her, when they get the notion, they will sit on golf balls or round rocks. Then if she is truly broody, then put eggs under her and depending on her size, some will cover quite a few eggs.

I my opinion there is nothing so much fun as to watch is a hen with chick, but you can't make a hen go broody.

Enjoy those eggs for breakfast, and wait, maybe she will do it.

Mrs.K

 

[WriterofWords]

Yay!! Congrats on the eggs!

 

[Kittymomma]

She may never go broody. I'd just eat them. What type of hen is Henny Penny? Some breeds are more likely then others to go broody. If she does decide to go broody in the future she'll do it whether or not you leave the eggs in the nest. It shouldn't be too hard to get some fertile eggs from someone on this site that lives close to you or off of Craig's List. She sounds like a sweethart, I'm glad she's recovering from all the trauma. It sounds like it was a rough year on all of you.

 

[thefishery]

Henny is just a chicken that I got from the man down the road. He's got all sorts of birds that roam all over the place. So I don't know what she is.

She has sat on and hatched two sets of eggs before, which is where the chickens my neighbor killed came from. I just never collected the eggs and she ended up sitting on them. The first time she sat on two eggs and hatched three chicks. The next time she had about 8 eggs and only had two hatch but it was very hot and I'd say they spoiled.

I think I'll let my husband make the call as to what to do with the eggs. Geeze I want an incubator so bad!