2 hens sharing one nest..can I separate them

[ChickieWoo]

I'm not sure what to do. I have 2 Bantam hens that are broody and have been sharing a nest. I had given them a golf ball to see if they would stay on the nest and they stayed there for a week. Well today I took the golf ball out in exchange for 2 regular chicken eggs. I would like for them both to hatch the rest of my eggs instead of using the incubator. Is there a way I can encourage one hen to go into another nest box while leaving the other on her own eggs???

 

[mljohnson05]

you can try to put one in a box next to it....give it a golf ball and see it if stays in that nesting box...if it does, then I say give her eggs too

If there is enough room...I don't see why both cannot have their own eggs in the same box....( i would try to separate first though)

 

[froggiesheins]

I have seen two sets of 2 hens hatch babies together in one nest with no problems. They had double protection. Eventually one hen wandered away and the baby had one mom. My 2cents is, if you want babies and those two girls want to sit there put the eggs under them.

 

[Saltysteele]

i've got 3 sussex hens that are all sitting on eggs. their nest box has 3 nests, but they are all undivided.

none of them has bothered the others. actually, when chicks do hatch, the chicks go from hen to hen. the chicks kept falling down out of the nest box onto the coop floor (only several inches, but enough they can't get back in). now, the girls rotate who is sitting on eggs and who is sitting on the chicks. none show hostility towards the chicks or each other. if i rustle one to check the eggs, they will try to push the other off their nest, and a domino affect happens with the 3rd hen giving me stink eye to get on the nest

 

[dianneS]

I had cochin bantams that used to do that all the time. It was fine. I just allowed them to do their thing.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

2 broodies together = 2 mommies for babies... it's worked fine for us. I once had 2 mommies for 1 baby (actually it was a mommy & gramma)... that cchick was well loved and cared for.

 

[BHep]

I have 2 silkies that brood & raise chicks together all the time and also 3 serama hens that do the same. They share the eggs & chicks and it works out fine. Good Luck

 

[ChickieWoo]

Thanks everyone for the input. You guys are great!

I went to let my chickens out this morning and freaked out when I saw the 2 hens running around outside, but it didn't take long and they were back in on the nest. I think I will add the rest of the eggs into their nest and let them have at it.

 

[Saltysteele]

not only do they share the eggs, as far as rotating and all of them taking care of the chicks, but they actually SHARE the eggs. at any given time, each hen will have a different amount of eggs than they had the last time i checked.

my banty lays smaller white eggs, my sussex lay medium light brown eggs. when every time the banty lays an egg, the sussex roll them under themselves. the other day, one was laying on the chicks on the floor of the coop, one was on the far right, the other on the far left. the one on the far right had 3 banty eggs (that i had taken out, but happened to candle and see they were probably about 2 weeks along, so put back underneath the hen).

so, she had 3 small white eggs under her. i checked on them again the next morning and she had 3 banty eggs and a sussex light brown egg, and the hen on the far left had 1 less light brown egg.

 

[vintage00gypsy]

agreed. (with all of the responses)

We have had many mixed families in our coops over time... have yet to come up with a negative situation to share.
I guess the worst part is if you are marking the eggs that you're allowing to hatch and collecting the others - you will be fighting a team... which can be tricky. One may do the poof to appear larger and scare you off (this, of course, will distract you) while the other nips your hand and gives you the evil eye. could be treacherous. We had this happen with a couple mamas that were insistent on sitting on the floor of the coop and they would steal everyone's eggs every chance they had.