Hatching Eggs Under a Broody Hen

This short e-book covers all aspects of hatching eggs under a broody hen. The topics covered are:

• Recognising and encouraging the broody hen
• Breeds for brooding
• Recognising and encouraging broodiness
• The broody coup
• De-broodying a hen
• Fertile eggs and care of the broody hen
• Collecting fertile eggs
• Placing the eggs and care of the broody hen
• Hatching and care of the new chicks
• Hatching
• The first few days
• Ongoing care

Extract from the introduction

We didn't know much about chicken keeping when we first started and although we had a couple of books on the subject most of our lessons have been learned through experience. That is particularly the case when it comes to rearing chicks under a broody. The information in books and online is very limited on the subject, very few people do it nowadays as incubators have become so good and cheap, however they are still a lot more work then using an experienced broody hen.

Ultimately it is a simple and natural process which is easily learned through experience however, I hope with writing this to help others to avoid some of the pitfalls and mistakes that we made.

Downloading the book

You can download the book for free, however, I wrote the book whilst bedbound with a condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum (extreme sickness in pregnancy) and am trying to raise money for the charity Pregnancy Sickness Support to set up support networks and rebuild the website, a donation of £2 to this would be appreciated but please do not feel obliged; our circumatances are all different! To receive your copy please send us an email via the contact us page and the book will be emailed to you as a .pdf file for download, hopefully within 24 hours. If you would like to make a donation please pay through paypal and I will then give the money directly to the charity, covering the paypal fee myself. Alternatively, for £2.50 we will print the book and post it to you.  If you prefer not to pay online please contact us for alternatives.