Will My Hen Ever Set On Her Eggs?
When we acquired our hen, she had been with roosters (and was missing many feathers). She began to lay a week after we brought her home. Three weeks later, she's up to about 19 eggs, but she shows no signs of setting. What are the chances any of these are fertile eggs, and will she EVER set on them?
Answers
If you want fertile eggs, you have to have 1 rooster...your hen may lay eggs,but none of them will ever hatch if you don't have a rooster. also, some hens will never set on eggs, fertile or not. if you expect fertile eggs that will hatch you need at least 2 hens and 1 rooster...at least 1 hen will set. you also need to be feeding them a feed called "laying mash and also feed oyster-shell" if well fed and you only want eggs for breakfast then then all you need is a couple of hens...production will increase if the have a light on 24 hrs. Per day...a single hen with all of the above can average 1 egg per day for several months...once they reach about 1 1/2 yrs. Old production drops way off...if you have anymore questions you can " shout " at me...my grandfather raised turkeys and chickens on a real farm and i raised chickens, one hundred+ at a time as a hobby farm for years, i also raised beef cattle and raised and trained quarter horses. I also taught people how to ride and care for thier horses....by the way, chickens need lots of green grass/clover,etc. and don't let this gross you out, but to stay healthy they also need to eat some thier own droppings and they love bugs...i know ....yuk
answered 2 months ago
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Thanks for your reply. She gets lots of greens in our yard, including clover :) She also gets kitchen scraps and stale bread, as well as the chicken mash and cracked corn from our local feed store. I suspect she's just not the "setting" kind. So I think I'll just collect what she's laid for us and be thankful for that. I had read somewhere that rooster sperm could live up to a month in the hen... that's why I was hopeful at least the first couple of eggs she laid might be fertile. But since she hasn't shown any interest in setting after several weeks, I think that's long enough to wait.
Thanks!
comment made by Jaj 2 months ago
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