fretters1 Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 Hi ! I've got a broody chicken that spent most of last summer broody on and off, so I thought this year I might try and have some babies ! I had a couple of questions I hoped someone could help me with I've got an old Guinea pig hutch to put her in - when's the best time to do this ? How many eggs can I put under her ? Is there a way to tell if the eggs are fertile ? She's only just gone broody so can I give her yesterdays eggs ? Any advice appreciated, I'm just hoping her very protective rooster doesn't get upset ! Thank you ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 I'd leave her with any old eggs for a couple of days to see if she's going to stay broody. Move her into the hutch at night, and put the eggs you'll want her to hatch under her. What breed is she? Anything from 4 for a bantam up to 8 or 9 for a LF. As long as she can cover them all She can have the eggs is she's definately going to sit on them. You can candle eggs to see if they're developing, maybe try about a week after they've been set Can you keep other cockerels that hatch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 The guinea pig hutch will be fine Ensure she is sitting tight on some fake or infertile eggs, then mover her with those eggs then replace those with the hatching eggs if she has taken the move ok (dont underestimate this - I have had two broodies 'break' after being moved ) After she has been sitting for about 7-10 days remove the eggs one by one and candle them (shine a light through the round end) you should be able to see development - veins and the embryo, infertile eggs will be clear Never set fresh eggs, it may cause developement and hatching problems, eggs at least a couple of days old are better, I always set about 3-5 days old eggs if I can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretters1 Posted April 22, 2010 Author Share Posted April 22, 2010 Thanks for those replies, that's really helpful She's a Wheaten Maran (with a Maran Cockerel), so I'm thinking around 6 eggs to sit on ? I'll leave her for today and move her tomorrow with the egg she's on and we'll go from there - she was hard to break when she went broody last time so fingers crossed ! Any males we get (if we get anything at all !) will probably be headed for the pot to be honest, lots of people have chickens round here and obviously cockerels are hard to get rid of Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
