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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

For many breeds of chickens, instinct is gone.  Many breeds just won't
go broody or sit on a nest at all.  I do have some of the better breeds
for broodiness, but still, it is hit or miss on having a broody hen, and
much of it is a seasonal thing-this just isn't the right season for
natural broodiness, even if you have in your girls..   You can tell if a
hen is going broody because she will be continually sitting in the
nestbox for several days or more.  She will eventually stop laying her
own eggs and incubate the eggs under her.  To keep the eggs at or near
100 degrees and the right humidity, the hen must stay on the eggs pretty
much 24/7, getting off maybe only 15 minutes or so a day to eat and
drink for herself, and a really 'good' broody hen won't leave a nest
even for that.  Generally, naturally, hens go broody in the Spring and
Summer, and raise their chicks when temps are warmer-ensures a higher
survival rate AND she can lead them around teach them what to eat, etc.
 More bugs are available, more grass, etc.  This time is year it would
be unnatural for a chicken to go broody, but I have seen it.
Some hens are so broody that it actually becomes a problem, and for the
health of the bird you have to break their broodiness.(I won't go into
that now)...so anyway, the short answer is that they won't do it
naturally this time of year.

bob ford wrote:
> Okay, I'm confused.  You already had hens and a rooster to fertilize
>  their eggs, and you've been stealing their eggs to hatch in an 
> incubator.  Why not just let the chickens hatch them naturally in 
> their chicken nests.  They wouldn't harm their own?
>
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> --- On Sun, 11/23/08, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> > From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> Subject: Re: [Homestead] 
> > Eggs are hatching-UPDATE To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org Date: 
> > Sunday, November 23, 2008, 1:01 PM I should also say that I am 
> > thinking of asking a neighbor for a few eggs to fill out the 
> > incubator.  He has more chickens than I do at present. He may want
> >  some chicks as well, but I doubt it.. I'm just trying to think of
> >  what to trade for the eggs if he doesn't want any chicks.
> >
> > B
> >
> >
> > EarthNSky wrote:
> >
> > > This is round 1 of chicks.  I am already collecting
> > eggs for round 2
> > > of incubation, which, if I can get enough eggs, should
> > start next
> > > weekend. As long as I have use of the incubator,
> > I'm going to hatch
> > > as many as I can.  If my girls stop laying, then I am
> > dead in the
> > > water.   There's an economy of scale here, it
> > makes no sense to run
> > > the incubator(and then lights) for a dozen eggs...at
> > least, that is
> > > my break point, but I haven't done the math on it.
> > I should.
> >
> > -- “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger 
> > leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda 
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--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda