How do u get a chicken to sit on her eggs. she lays them, and then sits fo ra while, and leaves.?

Question

How do u get a chicken to sit on her eggs. she lays them, and then sits fo ra while, and leaves.?

Answer 1

Sorry but if she doesn't want to sit on her eggs she isn't going to. I suggest getting yourself an incubator or wait until she wants to sit on them. In the mean time eat her eggs they are really good this fresh.

Answer 2

It is OK for her to get up and move around. Usually they will return to the nest after leaving for a little while. The eggs will stay warm enough without her being on top of them all the time.

Just relax and enjoy your baby chicks when they hatch in about 21 days after being laid.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

First it is a good idea to find out if your hen is of a breed that hatches out her own chicks (broods) In many breeds and strains of chickens birds don’t hatch out their own chicks because that hormonal imbalance was breed out of them. So if you aren’t sure if she is of a breed that sits on their eggs then check out this site. http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/c...

If she is a breed that will brood

How many eggs does she have? --- Many hens will not sit till they have a large enough clutch of eggs. How many eggs this is really depends on the hen and how many eggs she can sit on top of. So make sure that there is enough eggs to keep her busy but not so many that they p**p out of her feathers. If you don’t want that many chicks to hatch, take away a few eggs after she becomes broody.

What is the nesting spot like? --- Is it a good place to hatch a batch of chicks? Most hens like a nice comfortable nest that is darker and away from the other birds. She will also want a way to go to the bathroom and eat away from the nest, but not have to deal with other hens getting in the way and laying their eggs in her nesting box.

What season is it?--- It is almost fall at my home which really isn’t the best time to hatch out chicks. Most chicks hatch out in the spring or early-mid summer because they need sometime to play outside and get ready for the cold times ahead. So make sure that it is even the right time for chicks to hatch.

Is the hen ready?--- How old is the hen? Some hen breeds will hatch out chicks on their first year, while other breeds may wait till year 2-3 to start. You can also check out the hen’s tummy to see if she has feathers or not. The hen’s feathers have to be gone so that she can sit on the eggs and keep them warmer. All hens will lose under feathers as part of their summer molt, even breeds that do not brood, so this really doesn’t mean that she will brood, but she does need it to brood.

You can’t really force a hen to brood but you can encourage her. Broodiness is because of a natural hormone imbalance. So make her nest nice and comfy, fill it with eggs (If you don’t feel like using eggs at the beginning because you aren’t sure if she will ruin them or not then use golf balls until you are sure) Then see what happens. If she is going to hatch the eggs she will sit on the nest night and day and only leave it for around an hour or so every day to go to the bathroom and eat.

Good luck, and I hope this helps, if you have any questions feel free to contact me via email.

Rhode Runner

Answer 4

Some hens are just better mothers than others- find a friend with a broody hen and let her do the work- my broody Sumatra cross sat on a pile of shavings in the coop for almost 5 weeks - mind you with no egg underneath her- before she gave up on the idea !  You could, as suggested, just lock her in, but mine are free range and rush out as soon as I open the door, so I know they would hate that.

Answer 5

Keep her penned up.