2 chickens laying in the same nest

[bustnova]

Both of my hens are laying eggs in the same nest. I found 8 eggs in the nest. 3 from my buff bantam and 5 from my dark brahma bantam. The brahma lays very large brown eggs and the buff bantam lays very small tan eggs. If I leave them there will one of the hens sit and hatch them all as her own?

I am pretty sure that they will be fertile, because last week I opened 2 eggs that had a small spot that contained blood in the yolk.

 

[coffeemama]

I think the blood is something else-not an indicator of fertility. A hen may or may not go broody if you leave eggs in the nest.

 

[Master S.M.C]

If the eggs are fertile and in the nest you can encourage your hen to go broody.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Do you just have 2 hens? And I'm assuming a rooster? Then the eggs should be fertile. But those blood spots aren't the indicator, they're just flecks from somewhere in the hen's egg-making apparatus, sometimes even infertile eggs will have those in them.

Hens will often share a nest box, even if they have dozens of boxes to choose from they'll often take turns to use only the same few boxes. But it's probably better to collect the eggs daily. It keeps them from spoiling, from getting broken, from attracting any egg-eating predators.

Some folks have tricks they use to encourage their hens to go broody, I guess there are some hens who can be persuaded. Most go broody when their hormones or some other internal timing triggers the behavior.

You could collect the eggs daily, write the date on them, and store them at room temperature. Then you could eat the oldest ones as needed, and keep a half dozen or so available for any time a hen goes broody.

Let us know if one does!

 

[Rainbowbirds-of-a-Feather]

Yes Bustnova,

I agree with everyone. They will go broody in time and if they do, they may even go broody at the same time. I had to sisters go broody together. However, there was on down side one was higher on the pecking order than the other so she would not want to share the up bringing of the cheeps so I had to seperate the sisters. I choose the weaker of the two and she was an excellent mother. She raised the 12 cheeps to their Juvie stage.

Do you want the two hens to go broody or just one? Just wondering...

Dee

 

[Pinky]

My first 2 hens both decided to go broody together and both sat on the nest.When some of the eggs hatched,one of the hens took the chicks out to eat and the other remained on the eggs until they hatched.When all hatched,they took care of them together.They raised 27 chicks at one time.And all of them lived,but over half turned out to be roosters.
I had another hen that I left her eggs in the nest so she would lay on them and she finally went broody.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Sunny said it well. She is correct. Lemme add my 2 cents. I leave a couple marked eggs in the nest to encourage a broody. The fresh eggs I collect daily and store in a cool spot in the house after dating them. After I collect a desired number, I replace the oldest eggs in the collection with fresh ones. Whenever I add eggs, I turn the lot over.

Now, when I get a broody, I let her set for 2-3 nights and then move her to a private pen so she can remain undesturbed. On the 3rd night, in the dark, I go to her and replace the 2 dummy eggs with the clutch of fresh eggs I have collected for this event. The time lapses and night time transfers are to ensure that she is not stressed into abandoning the nest.

Her nest in her own private little pen should be in a nest box(cosey) and on the floor of the pen so she can return her chicks to the nest at night after they hatch.

Both of your hens are breeds that should make excellent broodies and mothers. Good luck.

 

[msgenie516]

Hi,

The information in the following thread should better help you determine if your eggs are fertile.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

Good luck with having your hens go broody! Genie

 

[bustnova]

I have 2 hens and one rooster. I really would like to know at what point is there enough eggs to cause a hen to go broody. I really don't care which one or if both go broody. I really want to make sure that if I get some chicks they are healthy and happy. I was also wondering if just one goes broody will she care for the chicks from the other hen as if they were her own?

This is my first time to raise chickens. I have always wanted to raise chicks, but I am really not educated in that area yet.

 

[a2ms4chickens]

I had 2 RIR bantams go broody within a week of each other. I put them both in a pen in 2 different nesting boxes while they sat on their eggs. After the first mama hatched her eggs, she crawled into the other hens nesting box and sat on 1/2 of the eggs. They both sat until all of the chicks hatched, and they both raised all of the chicks.

They didn't appear to have favorites, but the chicks had their favorite mama.

This was our first experience with broody hens, so I was amazed at the way they worked together to take care of the chicks.

Good luck!!!

Angie