Help!

Hi there,

Just after some advice regarding fertile chicken eggs...

I am wondering if it is possible to transfer eggs to a broody hen that have been in an incubator for 10 days? The hen I got the eggs for decided to walk of her nest before I could set the eggs under her (we don't have a rooster) so I had to hire an incubator instead.

Now one of our other hens appears to be clucky so was wondering if I could successfully put them under her to continue hatch?

Any help is greatly appreciated as I have never hatched chicks before...

Thanks very much,
Helen.

You could, but it would be better to leave the eggs in the incubator until a few days from hatching. Have the hen sitting on golf balls or some infertile eggs, then swap them. That way, you will know if the hen is going to continue sitting and it will give her time to change hormones from the sitting phase to the nurturing phase, or you can wait until they hatch and then slip them under her at night when they are a day old. You may need to confine them for a couple of days, if you do it this way, as it can sometimes take that long for a hen to bond with them.