2 Broody Hens Hatching Same Clutch of Store Bought Fertile Eggs

I started out with 1 broody hen. Because I do not have a rooster I decided to buy some Rock Island Fertile eggs and place them under her. After I did this another one went broody and they have been side by side sitting on the eggs. They don't seem to mind each other at all and I have seen them many times when one is looking the other way they will steal some eggs and place them under them! I have a video clip of this from my hen house cam that I will try to upload to my computer at some time.

I purchased these eggs at Lucky supermarket (in the refrigerated section where they sell all of their eggs) the day they were put on the shelf. They were laid 2 weeks prior to this. I let them set in my home and reach room temperature prior to placing them under my broody hen.

Fast forward to today and I have 3/12 viable eggs on day 20/21. 6 of the other eggs were smashed by either them or other chickens. I believe that this is because store bought eggs have thinner shells. The other 3 stopped developing during the early stages.

This morning when I went out there I saw one had already pipped through its shell and I can hear chirping out of another! I cannot wait to meet the new chicks. I am letting nature take its course and will allow my hens to do it all. The main thing that I am concerned about is how the two hens continue to roll the eggs even after day 18. Oh and also I hope that they do not fight over the baby chicks once they hatch. I will keep my fingers crossed that they hatch and are healthy! I will attach photos if their is success!

Does anyone else have any experience on either hatching store bought eggs or on two broody hens hatching the same clutch of eggs?

I'm having the same problem of my broody's sharing clutch also! I will be interested to see what people will say!

Update: I ended up having to take m Buff Orptington out of the hen box because I believe she is the one that pecked open one of the baby chick eggs. It haatched a little too early.....still had part of the yolk attached. I went back to check on it under my other hen and it was not alive. Shortly after that a second egg hatched and is doing well today. I named her "Lucky" because she came from eggs I purchased at Lucky's Supermarket!

My nesting boxes are probably a bit too big and, although I have several, most of my hens have a liking for one in particular. I am never surprised to see up to three hens sitting on top of each other trying to lay their eggs. I generally have one hen gone broody at any one time and whoever it is will always snaffle up the eggs laid by the other hens once they leave the box. These days I have learned to mark her original eggs and check under her at least once a day to remove the others - otherwise we would have none to eat! On several occasions two hens have gone broody at the same time and they will try to steal the other hen's eggs when it leaves the nest to eat, drink or defecate. The first time this happened, I found one hen sitting on 27 eggs. That was when we started marking the eggs.

I have found that once two or three chicks have been hatched by one broody she maymove off the rest of her eggs. Then the other broody is likely to pull the remainder under her but is just as likely to ignore them. Once we see that happen, we quickly bring the unattended eggs inside and put in the incubator to hatch ourselves. The new chicks then go into the brooder and we hand-raise them. However, those raised by their mums are generally more safety conscious, being taught well by their mums. I recently had one broody with 8 eggs under her, one hatched and she immediately moved off the rest of the eggs. These went into the incubator but, although one started pipping yesterday, it died in the shell. So far nothing has happened with the others. Mum and her lonely little chick wander the pen but the little one stays right away from the two other lots of chicks - one batch of 5 wander outside with their wonderful mum and are now getting to an age where they are becoming independent but have been taught well by Henny Penny; the second batch of 7 stay close to their little house (they were hand-raised) but we are hoping that in a week or two they will start following Henny Penny's kids outside. Most of my 'eggs-for-eating' birds free-range all day. My specialty birds - pekins, silkies, silver-laced wyandottes, araucanas are separated; and only free-range (one breed at a time) before the bigger birds, and ducks, are released.

I have yet to buy fertile eggs - but as I want to branch into Gold-laced Wyandottes I have arranged to buy 12 fertile eggs in a few days from a breeder. Egg laying has dropped off over here in Oz so the breeder is only getting two a day. It will take her six days to get the 12 and they will have to go straight into the incubator( none of my hens are currently broody) when I get them home. After seven days, I am told, their viability drops but I note that yours had been laid 2 weeks prior and you still hatched chicks. That's great to know.