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Hi Daphne,
Both my blue cochins were broody, broody, broody all Fall, so I finally gave in! The first hatched out 4 BCM on New Year's Day, and I still have the one pullet of the bunch. The other cochin hatched out the Splash Marans who were 10 weeks old last Friday. Both first-time mamas, who are normally my mellow gals, were ferocious mamahens the first three weeks, then gradually hormones calmed a bit and they got back to their normal selves. Each started back laying when their chicks were about 8-9 weeks old.
I ended up giving each bird a space of her own, and had to lock them in the space for a few days until they were truly settled on the nest. I lost 4 of the Splash Marans eggs by not doing that right off with the second broody--too many of the other hens thinking maybe they'd like to use the space as well! ARGH!!! Silly birds...
If broody #2 hasn't been broody long enough, taking the eggs from #1 wont give her long enough to set on them. And apparently the developing chicks "hear" mama and she them the last 3-4 days, so they have a kind of pre-bonding going on which you are pretty close to... Better to give broody #2 a few eggs of her own, I'm thinking. If the'd been closer to being broody at the same time, and you'd only had eggs under #1 a few days, then I would go for it, but not at this point 14 days later...
Also, have you "tested" to make sure #2 is really ready? I would put her in a space, give her a few fake eggs, make sure after 3 days that she is mostly just sitting on them, then give the real thing. I waste a few days, but haven't had trouble with the cochins as it seems to take a few days from when they start showing broody signs to toally locking down on the eggs. With the first hen, I had to toss her off the nest (with work gloves on!!) after a week when I realized the sparrows were eating her food and she actually hadn't moved in all that time! AFter three days of moving her off in the morning when I feed, she got the hang of it and would pop off for about two minutes when I walked in, gobble food as fast as she could, drink water, make a GINORMOUS poo, then hop right back on! 120 seconds, flat!
Good luck,
Dawn
