Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Farm-fresh eggs are easy to sell as they are qualitatively
superior to even the best store-bought eggs.
The Broody Hen
Sooner or later, you are going to run into a hen who is very
interested in hatching some eggs. If that is part of your
plan—great! She'll sit on any egg, so take some others from
adjacent nests that were laid that day, and slide those under
her too. If, as in my coop, the standard laying nests are up in
the air, make her a new nest that is closer to the ground—6 to
12 inches. That way, once the chicks are hatched, they won't
hurt themselves if they fall out of the nest.
Usually, though, when a hen goes broody, you don't want it
to happen. The hen will sit on the eggs, keeping them at a
high temperature, so that when you collect them a few hours
later, they have runny whites and just aren't fresh anymore.
Just collecting the eggs out from under her for a while won't
work—she'll just keep setting forever. The solution to this
problem is a “broody cage.”
A broody cage is any cage fashioned with a wire bottom and
containing no litter. I've used a small portable rabbit cage for
the purpose. If you keep a broody hen in this for 36 to 48
hours, it will break her of the desire to sit on the eggs. It is
