How you know when your hen is ready to sit over the eggs?

Answer 1

a broody hen that never laid eggs? is the hen there all the time? is she perhaps eggbound? does she eat and drink? if eggbound she might be dying .. please tell me more

AnswerShe may be brooding. If you wish to hatch some fertile eggs, put them under her. If you want to break her from this cycle, pen her separate without a nest box. Another ThoughtShe might just be sleeping

Another thought:

http://www.perdue.comfilesEasy%20Sunder%20Dinner%20Roast%20Chicken.jpg

What I did when this happened

I gave my bantam 5 fertilized eggs to sit on for 21 days. She is so happy now.

Answer 2

it's keeping the egg warm so it won't freeze to death or it could be guarding it which l doubt

You have yourself a broody hen, congratulations! You will be the proud owner of new chicks in about 21 days. The mother hen lays a clutch of eggs, anywhere from 3 to 20 depending on her size. Not all the eggs may be her own as other hens may lay close to her and she will gather them all under her. She will stop foraging for food and only leave the nest for food/water and defecation.

Now this only works if you have a rooster in the flock, hens can go broody even without a rooster but the eggs will not be viable (fertilized). If there is no chance the eggs are fertile then you might as well remove the eggs as she is just wasting her time.

Answer 3

Some breeds of hens naturally want to sit. Other breeds of chickens don't sit well or go broody. As humans have bred different types for different reasons, we have bred out the instinct of sitting for some breeds.

Answer 4

Let them sit if you want the eggs to hatch into chicks...Take the eggs away if you don't want the eggs to hatch, don't want chicks, or want the hen to continue to just lay eggs...Hens will lay eggs without a rooster, but the eggs will not be fertile and they will not hatch into chicks

Answer 5

There are no true indicators of when a hen will start to brood except she will simply gather a clutch of eggs and then remain on the eggs. Some breeds can become protective and "out of character" once over the clutch.

Answer 6

I have had chickens sit on other chicken's eggs, not necessarily taking turns, but taking over if she is broody and the layer wasn't. I also have had two hens sit on the same nest.

Answer 7

You don't! Egg hatching is a nature, many chickens won't do it. If she is hatching them she'll be there for more than 20 hours a day and she will be very agressive!

Answer 8

she burrys it in a dark space

Answer 9

Mainly in the spring time.

Answer 10

No, not all will.