Ultra Noob Questions

Noddy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:46 pm

Wifey and I recently decided to try and breed silkies and so increased our flock from 1 hen, 3 pullets to 1 Rooster, 3 hens, 5 pullets and 2 little birds. Aside from 1 of the hens and the 2 little birds , they all live together and 1 of the pullets produces an egg almost every day.
We are pretty sure that the egg is fertile but have the following questions.
a) We think the egg is laid in the afternoon but as none of the hens appear to be broody, the egg is never being "sat on".
Is it still usable as a breeding egg ?
b) We do not have an incubator, How long does an egg usually take to hatch and for how many hours roughly each day does it need to be sat on?
Apologies if my dumb questions have been covered elsewhere in the forum, I had a skim through and found some information that answered other questions but as yet have not found things dumbed down enough to help me with the questions above.
Thanks in advance

Peacocks Australia · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2002 9:14 am **Posts:** 310755

Noddy wrote:

Wifey and I recently decided to try and breed silkies and so increased our flock from 1 hen, 3 pullets to 1 Rooster, 3 hens, 5 pullets and 2 little birds. Aside from 1 of the hens and the 2 little birds , they all live together and 1 of the pullets produces an egg almost every day.
We are pretty sure that the egg is fertile but have the following questions.

a) We think the egg is laid in the afternoon but as none of the hens appear to be broody, the egg is never being "sat on".
Is it still usable as a breeding egg ? That will depend on how long the egg has sat there, if it's a "Fresh" egg then yes it should be fine.

b) We do not have an incubator, How long does an egg usually take to hatch 21 days subject to outside temp and for how many hours roughly each day does it need to be sat on? It needs to be incubated continuously, by that we mean constant Temp & Humidity. Hens will get off to feed but for a very limited time and normally at specific times of the day. Apologies if my dumb questions No apology needed no such thing as a dumb question! have been covered elsewhere in the forum, I had a skim through and found some information that answered other questions but as yet have not found things dumbed down enough to help me with the questions above.
Thanks in advance

Thanks
P.A :lol:

Kylie · **Posted:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:12 pm

I'm no exspert but can tell you a little of what your asking

Someone else may clarify what i have said or even add something different :-D

I'm pretty sure you can keep a fertile egg for upto 2 weeks before setting it, as the egg gets older the less viable it will and less likely to hatch, unless the egg is being sat on by a hen or in a bator then its not been set yet (the chick hasn't started to grow in the egg)

You could try leave the eggs in the nest every day until you get a few eggs in there (maybe half dozen or so) as this may encourage one of the hens to go broody, you could write the dates on the eggs with a pencil so you know how long they have been there for. Do you know anyone with an incubator that could help you out?

Eggs need to be sat on most of the day, my broodies usually get off the eggs once a day to eat drink and have a roll in the dirt and stay off for anywhere upto an hour or so, then are back on them til the next day.

It takes 21 days for the egg to hatch once in the bator or under a hen..

As every one says on here, theres no such thing as a dumb question :-D

Hope this helps you a little [smilie=a_okbyenow.gif]

Noddy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:21 pm

Thank you both for the info.
I might try leaving the eggs in the box for a few days to see if it helps the layer of them (Henrietta) to go broody.
We have lawn clippings and hay in the box for nesting, with temps dropping to around 18 or so overnight should I maybe add some more nesting ?
I may have to have a look around for a broody...

Kylie · **Posted:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:27 pm

Are your nest boxes off the ground?

I have wood savings in mine and they are about 10 inches deep and off the ground so the coldness can't come through the floor like it would directly on the ground.

From what everyone says it doesn't take much for silkies to go broody, but you could see if someone has one just incase.

You could try farmstock as there are often adds for broodys

http://www.farmstock.com.au/Classifieds/Poultry/Sale/

Noddy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:37 pm

The nesting box (an old drawer from a vanity basin) sits on a shelf about 500mm off the ground in a timber Chook Tractor and has plenty of shelter from the elements.
If I use a pen rather than a pencil to mark the egg will it harm the chick inside ?
I have heard that that shells can be quite porous and wondered if the ink from a felt tip might be harmful...

pjh · **Posted:** Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:10 pm

Noddy wrote:

If I use a pen rather than a pencil to mark the egg will it harm the chick inside ?
I have heard that that shells can be quite porous and wondered if the ink from a felt tip might be harmful...

I use a marker on my eggs, easier to see after 3 weeks than a pencil---no issues with it as far as I can tell----I do mark on the fat end of the egg----that is where the air cell is anyway :lol:

cheers pam

would not bother looking for a broody, if u have silkies one will go broody soon enough, would leave the eggs in the box though to encourage it :lol:

Kylie · **Posted:** Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:19 am

yep, they where my thoughts regarding the silkie going broody to Pam, i don't have silkies as yet but have been told often enough they will go broody very quickly if you leave the eggs there, and that they make excellent mums [smilie=a_bow.gif]

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:45 am

Hi Noddy,

As Kylie said, I'd keep the eggs less than 14 days old if you want to maximise your hatch rate. It's a bit of a slow process to get some eggs together if you only have one hen or pullet laying - I know what that's like. I have 5 silkie hens/pullets, and had to pull 4 broody ones off the nest to try to get some eggs laid!

The silkies do make lovely broodies - they almost seem to go into a trance when they are sitting on eggs. :-D

Good luck with them!

Deb :-D

schnapper · **Posted:** Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:17 am

The only other thing I would mention is that prior to hatching (maybe 3 days) the broody and eggs should be moved to a seperate enclosure (Brooder). Best to do it at night once they have gone to sleep.

I have several rabbit hutch style brooders. This is for a number of reasons.

You reduce distractions / interference from the other chooks.

The chicks can't be attacked by the other hens.

The chicks can't stray far from the nest meaning mum is less likely to abandon the remaining unhatched eggs to go chasing after her newborns.

A small enclosed space is warmer, cosier and darker meaning chicks and mum will feel safer and warmer.

The chicks are exposed to less germs / diseases that adult chooks carry.

As other have mentioned, leaving eggs in the nest will go a long way to encouraging your hen to go broody. I would also suggest turning the eggs a few times a day if possible. This will increase viability. And as mentioned, throw out any eggs older than about 10 days if she isn't sitting on them yet.

Good luck.

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