eve Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 ive got a broody bantam marran she has been sitting over a week keep collecting the eggs and putting her out to feed.she still broody so want to know is it to late to get some eggs to put under her to hatch?? do i have to put her in a different coop?? never hatched any before. my friend says she will have some chicks. we also have a market were i could sell the cocks. any advice please as need to source fertile eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken addict Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Hello Eve, I have had a few chickens go broody and what I did with the first, before I got a cockerel, was let her sit for 3 weeks on 4 unfertilised eggs and on day 21 I went out and bought 4 x day old chicks, these were auto sexed chicks so I knew that they were girls. That evening I held the box of chicks next to her for about 15 minutes then exchanged each of them for an egg. There's no guarentee this will work and the hen will except the chicks but I was advised this and it definitely worked for us. But if you wanted to let her actually hatch some chicks, some hens seem to give up after a week and a half and others can stay on longer than they need to, but if you think that's what you want to do then there seem to be hatching eggs available by post. I put my broodys in a smaller run and hen house I have, in the evening, when I think moving them won't disturb them and they will stay on the eggs. This way she doesn't get disturbed by the others. This is just what I have done. Others may do things very differently. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eve Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 THANK YOU for your reply. not sure what to do now. i have 2 young children and think the boy would love to see baby chicks and how they hatch. have my hands full with daughter of 10 months. just got a baby rabbit as well. hubby thinks im mad thinks we need to move to a farm!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken addict Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 If you are going to let her hatch some remember that there was never a truer saying than don't count your chickens before they hatch! But it is wonderful when it's a success story. The hen should do all the hard work for you but it might be an idea when they hatch to have an emergency brooder on hand (you can find instructions on how to set these up and info on how to look after chicks online). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
