Advice on letting broody hen hatch eggs

[rehric00]

Do you think regular sized med/large eggs are too big for a silkie to hatch?? I gave her three....

 

[Angiebubs]

I may have a lavender roo available. "Peekachu" hes a complete sweetheart but my other roo won't let him do much at all-he ends up staying inside on a roost or being chased most of the day.

rehri: I would think it would be fine....when you consider LF hens will sit on up to 30 eggs at once I think 3 normal size would be ok for your silkie?

 

[donrae]

Do you think regular sized med/large eggs are too big for a silkie to hatch?? I gave her three....

My champ broody is a tiny bantam cochin. I usually give her six large fowl eggs and she does fine. This spring I was ambitious and gave her 8 and they all hatched and are thriving at 4 months!

 

[lizgarf]

I have a couple bantams that go broody very frequently. One has been broody for about 3 days now, and I ordered some hatching eggs that should arrive in 2 days. As of this evening, the other frequent-brooder was showing some broody signs, snuggled up to her in the nest. I have 4 hens in a large coop (recently lost a fifth to the neighbor's dog, which is probably why I'm so eager to take advantage of this broody spell), and they all get along really well. Very little pecking, no fighting, and lots of snuggling. I like the idea of keeping the primary broody and eggs together with the 3 other hens as much as possible - both to allow the other potential broodies to help out, and to make integration easier later - but, maybe that's foolish? Is it particularly risky to let two hens brood the same batch of eggs together? Even when these two were pullets, they were like a married couple - I would think they'd make good co-moms and the others may help too, but I'd like to hear others' thoughts on this.
Thanks!

 

[rehric00]

Aw I think that's cute! Try it and see. Let us know how it goes

 

[tashtash]

I have 2 broody hens but they each had 6eggs under them each now 1 has 2 and the other has 4 why are they getting broken. How can I stop others laying in there box

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Do you think regular sized med/large eggs are too big for a silkie to hatch?? I gave her three....

No egg is to big for them. Lol over the spring I gave two of my silkies 5 goose eggs all hatched out.

 

[lizgarf]

Alrighty, I put the fertile eggs under Frida last night, and here's what has happened so far: She was still on top of all of them in the morning. Her girlfriend Rousseau was not broody in the morning, but she wound up staying in the nest with Frida after laying her egg, and when I checked on them, they were sitting side-by-side, and Rousseau had half of the new eggs under her! I don't know how they divided them, or if Rousseau stole them, but after awhile, I saw Rousseau was up again and had left the eggs behind. So, I put them back under Frida, and then Rousseau went back into the nest instead of free-ranging with my two other hens. I then gave Rousseau a couple more eggs, and a few hours later, she had snuggled up with Frida and left the eggs behind again! So, all eggs are now back under Frida. I don't think Rousseau is broody enough right now to be trusted, but she might get there - she gets broody as frequently as Frida does.
I'm worried about needing to check on them all the time to make sure all the eggs are under a hen, but I think separating them will be stressful, especially since they just lost their flock-mate, Stella, and I don't want Frida to abandon the nest if I move her.
Your thoughts? How long can the eggs be left behind by the hens before there are problems?
Here are some pics:
Frida and Rousseau, each setting on some eggs:


Frida on all the eggs:


The fertile eggs, when Frida got up for a quick bite to eat (Marans, Cream Legbars, and Easter Eggers):

 

[lizgarf]

Update: Rousseau spent all night in the nest with Frida, and as of this morning, she was back on her own separate clutch of half the fertile eggs, just like in the previous picture. They usually go broody together, so I figured this would happen in some form. I just hope the positivity of their being together outweighs the risk to the eggs from their passing them back and forth!

 

[Jamandack]

Okay- I have a broody Black sex link. She was broody for about a week before we stuck some fertilized eggs under her (three from a friend with a roo). She kicked two out somewhere around day 14. So there's one left as a possibility- as of this afternoon there wasn't any activity (today was day 21). So we're hoping it's just a bit late. If it doesn't hatch- walk me through what you've done when you "transplant" a new little chick under the broody hen at night. How old can the chick be that you put under her? Does it have to be super young?
Also- I'm slightly worried about her mothering skills based on the fact that she is the meanest chicken out of our little flock- but I'm hoping that isn't an indicator of her mothering skills. If she isn't a fit mother what do I do and how soon do I know whether it's going to work out or if I should intervene?
TIA! I've loved reading through this thread!