Chicken question?

gwstang · Mar 17, 2014

I have kept 6-8 hens and one rooster for several years. One hen likes to sit on the eggs. she is very gentle and does not even peck when I reach under her to get the eggs every day or so. Occasionally, I go three days or so before getting the eggs. I have to pick her up and drop her to the ground at that point, because there are 8-10 eggs under there. The last couple of times, when I turn around to leave, there are two eggs on the ground where I dropped her. Is she clutching the eggs in her feet? I don't recall ever seeing this before in the last 20 years or so of hens that I have had. Maybe it's because I am waiting too long to get their eggs and there are too many under there so she has to improvise by clutching some of them? Just wondering, thanks, Gary

valleview · Mar 17, 2014

Broody hens can sometimes tuck eggs unto their feathers, they re also moving the eggs with their feet and beaks frequently. If the eggs are fertile, you should start seeing slight changes in the developing embryo by day three. I would need to be mighty hungry to eat eggs like that. Place the broody hen in a wire cage off the ground where she can't nest so that she will get over the broodiness and start laying again- unless you want chicks!

55deere70 · Mar 17, 2014

Yes, I would not let a hen set on fertile eggs for three days if I intended on eating them. Collect them daily.

gwstang · Mar 17, 2014

Wow. I've been eating these for years and never noticed anything unusual about them. This is the most "broody" hen I have ever had though. Most usually just laid and then left.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 17, 2014

Decide how many chicks you would like to have - mark thatmany eggs and then collect everything else everyday - in 21 days they'll hatch and you can see how she mothers over them. It's a neet thing to see. Eggs that are long in shape will be roosters.

redforlife · Mar 17, 2014

I would pick the eggs everyday. Don't think I would be eating eggs she sat on for 3 days, especially with a rooster in there. Really no need for the rooster in there unless your wanting to hatch out the eggs. Sounds like she would be a good sitter if you wanted to do that. Next time you pick here up, check her out. See if she's got some in her feet, or under her wing, or whatever. Then you'll know how she is getting them out of the nest with her. LOL

C. Amick · Mar 17, 2014

We always put the brooding hens in a wooden cage with slits in it so that she could get to the food and water we put outside her cage. After a week or so we let her out and she would stop for a while and go back to laying and not sitting. It was called "breaking her up".

pat sublett · Mar 17, 2014

We use to have several hundred hens. We would pick them off the nest and put them all in a cage when they started setting, put aspirin in their drinking water to lower their fever and they would go back to laying sooner.

Dave H (MI) · Mar 17, 2014

First let me say that I agree with you. However, in parts of Asia they eats eggs that have almost grown ducklings in them. As long as you cook them I guess it just increases the protein content? Bleah!

redforlife · Mar 17, 2014

Ya, I've heard of some of the Asian delicacy's. Both fertilized and un-fertilized. I have unfortunately been around a few rotten eggs. I have always said you should try something once to see if you like it. I'm sure I don't have the stomach to try to eat an egg that turned black, or a chick that didn't hatch though. To much for me.

Bob Huntress · Mar 17, 2014

It has already been mentioned that you check her for clutching when you next collect eggs. If you have a good sitting hen and a rooster, you may want to consider growing your flock, which I admit has also been mentioned. The irony with chickens is that they are stupid as politicans and they are every bit as math challenged as the ones who write the federal budget. They know if there is an egg or more, but can't count how many. As long as you leave an egg under her, she will never know that any are missing. If you really need all the eggs, or simply don't want them to stay under her, consider leaving a golf ball under her. Belive me, the golf ball will never spoil & she will never know the difference.

gwstang · Mar 18, 2014

You just reminded me about the snake and the golf ball from last year. Big chicken snake was getting the eggs and harassing the poor chickens. Golf ball took care of him and he never came back. Probably wondering what kind of eggs those darn chickens were laying.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 18, 2014

That story reminds me of another. I heard of a lady (deceased now), back in the 30's caught a black snake that ate a whole egg, was escaping through a knot hole in the wall, couldn't make it through because of the egg it ate. The lady killed the snake, cut the egg out of it, put it with the other eggs that were to go to town to be sold. I guess that particular egg got ate twice. Should of posted this story on its own, but couldn't resist re-posting it to the golf ball story.

Chicken question?

gwstang

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valleview

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55deere70

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gwstang

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Anonymous-0

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redforlife

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C. Amick

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pat sublett

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Dave H (MI)

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redforlife

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Bob Huntress

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gwstang

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Anonymous-0

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