Don't move her off the eggs right away. It depends how long the eggs were cold, they can stand fluctuations in temperatures better when they are almost ready to hatch. Make sure they are damp enough and leave her for a few more days before removing. Eggs may hatch up to 4 days after the day you think they should. If nothing happens you only lost 4 days. After this you can put her somewhere where she can't sit on anything to recover for a while. Its not worth trying to get her to sit on a fresh batch, she probably wouldn't last the full 3 weeks. Sarah.

-- sarah matthess (william@matthess.freeserve.co.uk), March 07, 2000

Answers

Not an answer, but a question. I have a few hens and a rooster. Is there some way to encourage one of the hens to become broody? Would love to see some baby chicks running around for replacements and for the freezer.

-- mspaw (kkpierce@netdirect.net), April 27, 2000.

mspaw, it depends mostly on what kind of chickens they are. Some breeds have had the "broody" bred clear out of them (hens that brood and rear chicks stop laying eggs), so you would want to make sure you had the right breed. Get one of the poultry catalogs (Murray McMurray will do) and read their breed descriptions for more information. If you need to buy some different chickens, you might want to find a local breeder -- the big hatcheries don't always have the very best stock, and once in a while, what they send isn't quite what you ordered. The first batch we got from Murray McMurray was supposed to have some White Rocks in it, but they sent White Leghorns instead. And more recently there was another mistake like that, but I can't remember what the breeds were. Good luck.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), April 27, 2000.

A hen that is going to go broody will do so after she's accumulated a clutch of eggs in her favorite nest. You can give her a dark, quiet, place to have her nest and put some eggs in it , hoping that she will find it and like it. Our hens usually wait until they have from 10 to 12 eggs in the nest. It's all up to her after that. Good luck.

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), April 27, 2000.