Anybody here keep chickens? I get plenty of eggs and I have several roosters.

[hedgehog]

How do I get at least 1 hen to brood a clutch of eggs?

[hedgehog]

1. Aw, c'mon, all the people with fur babies here and I'm the only one with

feather babies?

[erinlough]

7. The three hens are ours

The girls:


The neighbors boys!!!!!





Can't tell you much about them, but they just came to live with us and the three hens were layers where they came from. I like them, they make noise when anyone comes around. The boys from the neighbor are cute, but have very loud crowing voices so we shoo them home.

[MonkeyFunk]

13. I'm jealous!

I would love to have chickens!

Except, I used to have neighbors with roosters, and they ARE pretty damned annoying in the A.M.

[jobycom]

2. I kept them a long time ago, but since you're getting bupkis.

Usually the hens will want to hatch. Leave one alone, she'll try. If you find one hiding her nest somewhere, she's usually pretty serious about it, so let her nest. At least, that's all I remember about what we did. We usually had little chicks running around, so something worked.

I had friends who used incubators, but I don't know how that works.

No help, I know. Sorry.

[hedgehog]

5. I don't know if I have too many hens for the nests or what.

When one does get broody, the others keep laying eggs on her nest until she's sittin gon 4 dozen. Or else the old eggs get broken as new ones are added. I can't tell you how many hens have gotten up and walked away after sittin gon the nest 2 weeks.

Do the broody hens ever leave the nest to eat and drink?

[jobycom]

12. We always had enough nests for each hen.

Plus we had a fairly large yard they could roam in. So they each had places to nest for themselves, and some found hidden places to nest.

I never really thought of what they eat or drink while nesting. I guess they must leave the nest.

[hedgehog]

16. I think that's my problem then. I've never had enough nesting boxes.

Right now the preferred site is an old rabbit hutch they all share. Theother boxes are being ignored.

[jobycom]

19. They sell fake eggs to entice chickens to use a nest.

If you have nests they are ignoring, put a couple of the fake eggs in some of them, and maybe the hens will start using them.

[Schema Thing]

3. Pin up cute chickie pictures around the yard.

and a large, loudly ticking biological clock. Paint a corner in soft colors. Works every time.

[hedgehog]

6. Oddly enough, whenever we get a batch of chicks from the hatchery,

I get one or two hens interested in setting eggs. They get bored and wander off before they hatch, though!

[Schema Thing]

9. Don't let the Roosters ride thru on Harleys!

[Lars39]

4. Put a fake egg or two in their nest.

Then you can have fun identifying the snake with the marble egg in its middle. :D

[stuntcat]

8. omg I wish!

alright I can't help. I just wanna say I'm jealous of people with some chickens. Soon as I get out of this city I'm getting a few.. they're gonna be some very important, very spoiled chickens too :loveya:

okay back to the real topic..

also this thread could use some pictures..

[BrotherBuzz]

10. Stop collecting the eggs in one nest

They won't brood until they feel there are enough eggs. Ever wonder why all the chicks are hatched on the same day yet the eggs are laid over a two week period? The eggs are kinds dormant until the a hen steps up and starts sitting on them to raise the temperature.

[galledgoblin]

11. how hot is it in the coop right now?

I know you've been spared much of the horrid heat, but inside the coop it may be too hot for the hens to be interested.

[hedgehog]

18. There's a thought - we had one chicken sneak off one summer into the barn to

hatch out some chicks.

[conscious evolution]

14. Quit eating the eggs

:hide:

[hedgehog]

17. But they're soooo tasty! And the yolks are orange because these chickens

free range (and eat my flowers, but that's another problem!)

[JVS]

15. You see, when a boy chicken and a girl chicken love each other very much, they go to a church...

and get chicken married. That night the boy chicken and girl chicken got to bed and get very close to one another...