a few too many? will she cope?

[spish]

ok i have a little araucana hen who has tried for over 2 months to hatch out some chicks, not sure whats gone wrong but out of 15 eggs (first time 9 second time 6) none of them hatched. so this was 2 broody episodes back to back, thats gotta be hard on a hen right?
so anyhow i had some chicks hatching 2 days ago in my incubator, and she was gearing up for a third try on the eggs.....so i snuck all the eggs under her as they started pipping. All 18 hatched! (i didnt think theyd all make it out)
so now i have this little hen with 10 cochin bantams and 8 orpingtons chicks, and yup its a bit full under her.......do you think she'll cope with them all? they are in their own enclosure, ive put down plenty of food and water, shelter, straw etc....but im still a little worried as they get bigger they may get squashed? she so badly wanted to be a mum but i think she didnt expect this many.......
so do i leave her try or take some away?

 

[Sorin]

I'm so happy for your girl! She finally gets to be a momma! I don't know about 18 of them

My guess is that she will be fine, the weather is warmer now so I wouldn't think they would need to climb under her for warmth as much. But hopefully someone else will chime in with more experience in this

 

[spish]

luckily it is warm here...i havent actually seen them all under her yet, i dont know if they all fit...the eggs did but yeah, now they're wriggly little critters lol!
im happy for her too but think i overwhelmed her a bit.....but on the other side id feel bad taking away from her now...hence the predicament im unsure what to do. i really didnt think all 18 would hatch..i normally incubator eggs that pip but dont get all the way out....not this time! must be something a broody hen does that an incubator cant?

 

[Sorin]

If it's warm where you are I wouldn't think you would have too much too worry about

I'm sure she will do fine showing all 18 how to be good chickens! Congratulations!

 

[Bengalcats1]

As long as it is warm enough there, I would think she'd have a hard time sitting on 18 babies to keep them warm esp at night, IF you take any away she will not have a clue, with that many you could even take 10 away and she won't mind at all, she will still have more than enough to keep her very busy. If it were me I think I would take quite a few away and put them in a brooder, 18 seems to the extreme, but it is still chilly here so I guess that's why it seems so....

 

[Anianna]

At the university experiment stations that raise chickens, it is standard practice to put 20 chicks under each hen at a go, just FYI. I'm sure she can handle her new big family. I wouldn't interfere, but being watchful is always a good idea.

 

[lizage]

I have nothing to add other than HOW CUTE is she! And so proud!

 

[spish]

she is definatly the proud mom! no one goes near her babies, she so fiercly protective...an empty crisp wrapper blew past her run behind, she flew at the wire as if to give it a warning...'stay back'

im gonna leave them all with her then, she deserves it after sitting for nearly 2 months on bad eggs!

 

[Aemelia]

Aww what a great story! She's pretty and I just don't get sick of pictures of hens and chicks. I troll the hatching boards sometimes just to look at pictures.

 

[Bravo]

WOW! 18!!! That is awesome! Congratulations!!

I'd probably take at least 8 of them away from her. 18 is too many for her to keep warm and she could accidentally squish and kill them. If you have another broody, you could give the extra chicks to her.

I recently let my BA set and she hatched 4 eggs and I gave her an additional 7 chicks--but she is a VERY large BA--about 6.5 lbs and as wide as a house. The chicks are 7 weeks old now and she weaning them. She walks them to the garage to their brooder every evening and makes sure they go in, then she walks back to the "big girl" coop to roost with her sisters. The whole process was very cute to watch.