8 eggs and 3 broody hens Will I have squished chicks?

[Beau coop]

I have 2 nest boxes and 4 hens. I got the extra one when my hen went broody. Got her some fertilized eggs and she has been setting since.

How ever, two of the other hens decided to set with her in the same box. So I tried moving some eggs to the other box and tried to split the girls up. They would have nothing to do with it! All 3 are jammed into one nest box!

My question is- when the chicks hatch, will there be any problems?
I am worried about fighting mothers and squished chicks!

Any thoughts on how to handle this?

 

[Cats Critters]

I had two hens share ten chicks with no problems and another one a week later with 2 chicks join them and they all stayed together and shared babies just fine, so you'll probably be fine, but I would keep an eye on them just in cause.

 

[Kittymomma]

I'd be more worried about eggs getting broken or the other hens laying eggs in the nest. It's hard to say without a visual of how big the nest box and hens are.

 

[Beau coop]

They were in a banty sized nest box. I changed them over to a larger one last night. All eggs intact. However there was an additional 5 more under them. I don't which are which but I do know only 8 are fertile. So if I get lucky and all 8 hatch I will be able to discard the rest. Hatch day very soon!

 

[ellieroo]

Several times thru the years my hens have doubled up at least for awhile. a few made it all the way thru and shared the babies!

 

[Beau coop]

I am glad to hear that the girls should all share the chicks. One thing I have learned is that broody poo is stinky, but multiple that by THREE!!!!