2 sets of hatching eggs 1 month apart?

[jenschix]

I would like to set eggs to hatch on Easter weekend (these will go to their forever home after 10 weeks) but want to start my own set of eggs on May 1st (these will be eggs I buy so I have different breeds and I will keep to play with my family). Will my broody hen desert the first batch of chicks to sit on the new eggs? How will the older chicks and rest of flock welcome the newer chicks? I have 2 roosters and 8 laying hens - I'm just assuming that all the eggs are fertilized since the roosters are very attentive to all the hens. Let me know if this is a bad idea or if I should just see what happens. I don't want to risk buying and hatching specialty breeds just to have them killed by the flock.

 

[Judy]

I would not assume that your broody will return to broodiness when you want her to. Tyically, after they raise the chicks, which can take a rather wide variation of time, they will return to the roost and to laying for a while before they go broody again. Some hens will go broody two or three times a year, some only one.

Usually, but not always, a broody / mama will protect her chicks from the flock as they grow up. But a lot of things can go wrong, and sometimes do.

I don't think I would purchase eggs and count on a broody to hatch them, myself, unless the bird was already broody. I guess the way you decide to go will depend at least partly on your experience and history with this particular chicken. Good luck!