Having confidently written on Stoneheads blog this morning that non of my chickens were showing the slightest intention of going broody, one has spent today sitting in the nest box.
As she can only be on one egg, can anyone tell me if the eggs I've collected this week and stored in the fridge will hatch if I put the under her?
Thanks everyone
As she can only be on one egg, can anyone tell me if the eggs I've collected this week and stored in the fridge will hatch if I put the under her?
Thanks everyone
6 comments:
Hi, Deborah, sorry it won't work. The eggs have to be "ambient" and as the chicken would normally sit on them as she lays her next egg, she warms them daily and also turns them and adds grease from her feathers so that the eggs remain moist inside. Debs x,
Thanks Debs,
I put half a dozen under her this morning just in case but took the precaution of marking them with a pencil. I'll don a peck proof jacket tomorrow and move her and retrieve them.
I've slipped the eggs laid today under her so I might get a few more chicks. She showed no signs of being the slightest bit broody until yesterday and she hasn't left the nestbox since then.
We collect and store hatching eggs for up to a week before placing them in the incubator or under a broody. They're kept at ambient temperature (depending on time of year 10-20C here) in a dark place during that time.
We have 20 eggs, stored for up to a week, in the incubator at the moment and when I candled them three days ago, all were fertile and developing well.
It is possible to store hatching eggs a little longer than this, but your chances of successful hatching decline rapidly with every passing day after that.
As for storing them in the refrigerator, you may get lucky and have one or two that are fertile but the odds are against you.
You don't have to get eggs under a broody hen immediately anyway. I usually leave the hen to it for up to a week while I collect sufficient good eggs and then put a clutch under her.
Must dash now as I have chores to do, but hopefully this helps.
Our bantams (Sage and Onion) go broody from time to time. We don't have a cockerel so the eggs wouldn't hatch anyway. They don;t always have a egg to sit on. When they are broody we take them of their nest 2 or 3 times a day and put them in the garden so they eat and drink. They get really stroppy though, it is hilarious to watch them!
If you want to stop them being broody, put them in a house with a wire floor and plenty of ventilation. The cool draught blowing up under them lowers their body temperature and, in most cases, after a few days of this they're back in business again.
Gosh, Richard and I would love to have some chickens but it all sounds rather complicated to me!! We will have to give it some thought
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