I have a question about brooding chickens. I have 2 hens, one a frizzle bantam and the other a BO, who are sitting on eggs every time I collect. After about a week of stealing their eggs and having them curse me with their squawks and ruffled feathers, I thought, what the heck, let 'em sit. Lesson learned, number 1, I should have marked the eggs because other hens would get in the nest with them and lay. The setting hens would then play musical nests. I would come out and find the BO on the bantam's and the bantam moved to the nesting box next door, and now there is a third bantam who wants to share a nest with a silkie and set. Is it normal for other hens to lay in a box while one is nesting. Do broody hens often change from one nest to another in the middle of incubation. The eggs are covered with one hen or another all but 1 time when I collected eggs. There have been a couple occasions when I could see several eggs not completely covered by the hen that was sitting on them. I am kicking myself now for not keeping track of which were the first eggs laid, as I feel now I have to see through the 21 days if there are any chicks that actually made it. Anyone have experience with this? Any hope for viability? The most frustrating part is the eggs may all be going to waste, can't sell em to eat because they might have started developing and not sure if they've been covered adequately to develop. Help! Words of encouragement???