Hey all, decided 1 week ago to allow 1 of my broody bantam hens to brood a batch of eggs, some standard sized and some bantams, added eggs for 3 days, had 9 total, all identified and marked. The other hens were trying to climb in too, then my pure black rosecombe hen went broody, grabbed some of the eggs, and more were added by me. Both hens are proven brooders and mothers.
My youngest bantam hen jumps in today, moves 4 eggs under herself, then abandons the nest. I then moved the eggs back under rosecomb hen.
This year is a real challenge. I am not overly concerned if all don't hatch, have had a good track record in the past. Last year there were only 3 hens in the coop, so brooding hens were not disturbed by other hens. I have 8 hens in this coop this years. I have barricaded the brooding hens in their nest, so at least the 3 large hens cannot get
they have gone to other nest boxes already.
The other issues is, I have eggs spaced almost a week apart, and now they are mixed up with the older eggs. I am hoping to keep 1 hen on the chix, and 1 to finish off the later eggs.
I still really like mother hens brooding and caring for chix, they really do it well..
My youngest bantam hen jumps in today, moves 4 eggs under herself, then abandons the nest. I then moved the eggs back under rosecomb hen.
This year is a real challenge. I am not overly concerned if all don't hatch, have had a good track record in the past. Last year there were only 3 hens in the coop, so brooding hens were not disturbed by other hens. I have 8 hens in this coop this years. I have barricaded the brooding hens in their nest, so at least the 3 large hens cannot get
they have gone to other nest boxes already.
The other issues is, I have eggs spaced almost a week apart, and now they are mixed up with the older eggs. I am hoping to keep 1 hen on the chix, and 1 to finish off the later eggs.
I still really like mother hens brooding and caring for chix, they really do it well..
