young hen not sitting on her first egg...what to do?

[maymay8]

Hi all - How excited we were to find an egg - our first - in our chicken area this morning. I thought our freshly minted hen would be sitting on it, but she's not. She's running around the yard with her brothers. They are all bantam silkie/cochin crosses about 6 months old. I'm worried that she won't sit on her egg and if she doesn't then I dont' know what to do with it. It will have been outside too long to eat right? And we don't have an incubator or i'd bring it in to try to hatch it. What is going on here? Can I do something to help her get the sitting behavior?

 

[freshegg]

bring the egg in and eat it. they will only sit on it if they are broody

 

[MissPrissy]

Hens will not sit on an egg just because they laid it. Some hens will never sit to hatch eggs. Collect your eggs and bring them inside. Eat them.

 

[Redfeathers]

Your hen won't sit on her egg unless she is broody, that is usually a hormonal phase they go through. I have a broody that has been sitting for over a month now. She hasn't laid a single egg since she went broody but still refuses to get off the nest. She will eventually stop this and return to normal, but in time will do it all over again. Certain breeds are more prone to being broody like my buff orpington. Go ahead and eat those eggs, she won't sit on unless she goes broody...when she does, you will know, she will sit in the nesting box and get puffy and sometimes growl when you or another chicken goes near her.

 

[maymay8]

Thanks all!

 

[ginasmarans]

yum. What a good girl!

 

[dancingbear]

Also, I've never heard of a hen going broody as soon as she lays her very first egg.
When they get a little older and do brood, normally in the spring/summer, (if you even have a broody breed) they should have whole nest full (at least four, up to about a dozen) to sit on. You don't want them to start with one and add one egg a day, you won't have a very successful hatch that way. The eggs need to start incubating at the same time, so they hatch at the same time.

 

[d.k]

* LOL!! Right now, she's probably hoping that WHATEVER happened to her today, never happens again. I kinda felt a little like that after my first kid. (9 lb 9 oz.)

 

[DouglasPeeps]

d.k :

* LOL!! Right now, she's probably hoping that WHATEVER happened to her today, never happens again. I kinda felt a little like that after my first kid. (9 lb 9 oz.)

 

[BeakSanctuary]

Here comes my "caring hen" question for anyone who might answer. I have a few fairly young hens who started laying in the last month or so. I notice that sometimes they seem to be looking for the eggs and, frankly, I feel a bit bad not leaving them where they lay them (duh, I know). I have it in my little mind that they fret over having the eggs removed, which I've done only once or twice now. Care to tell me not to worry about this? I know I have to get over it.