Mrs

[thebdj]

Hi,

 

A couple of quick questions.

 

1) Is it a good idea to put a few imminent hatchers from my incubator under my broody? She has been sitting on a few eggs herself for about 2 and a bit weeks but only 1 of 4 candled as positive. Would she take to them and be happy?

 

2) If the answer to 1 is 'Yes, this is absolutely fine and should work a treat' then how long should a hen have been brooding before you do this successfully? I.e. do they have any concept of a 21 day incubation? Because I have another broody who would no doubt be a great mother but has only been broody about 5 days. Would she find it a little odd to have some chicks after about a week?

 

Cheers

Justin

[Redwing]

Firstly how imminent? if any eggs have pipped and you remove them from the inccy you run the risk of the membrane shrinking back and trapping the chick, if its before day 18 or so you should be ok but keep some back in the inccy as insurance if you are not sure of your broody

 

As long as the broody is sitting tight she will be fine, just keep a close eye for any rejected eggs or chicks

 

Broodies honestly dont know if they have been sitting for days or weeks (luckily!)

 

Make sure you take the existing egg off of her as she cant stagger hatch chicks and will abandon it when her new chicks hatch