23 eggs under one bird...what to do

[GaNewChick]

We found our missing hen yesterday in the pompous grass. When she left the nest for a little while today we found 23 eggs. I guess the girls are sharing. She can only cover half of them. She has been on them for about 5 days...best guess.

Can I take about a dozen from her next time she leaves and incubate them? How close would I have to be to day 18 since I'm not sure exactly how long she has been there.

Thanks!!!

 

[tackyrama]

I had a first time broody sitting on 12 eggs. Thats way too many. 8 hatched, two got crushed in with all the eggs and didn't make it past the first day. Another made it longer but it had a dislocated leg and I had to cull it. You can try to incubate some but snce you couldn't mark them it will most likely be a staggered hatch.

 

[inohio]

I had a first time broody sit 24 eggs. They'd all laid in a pile on the hay. By the time I found them, one bird was elected broody and none other interested. This was in Nov in Ohio.

I needed the hay, so I moved her and all the eggs into a corner of a small garage. She kept with it and hatched out 19 live chicks when the temps were routinely going below freezing.

After they hatched, I put a light over them to help her out. When I'd go into check on them, I could pick up the hen, shake gently and little peeps would come tumbling out of her... it was funny. She never lost any to the cold.