Broody chicken not sitting on all the eggs properly

[Sagey_7878]

She’s pushing out about 4-6 eggs at a time! According to chickengeorgeto’s response, I suppose there’s not much else to do now but just let her do her thing!

Yep, let her do what she wants to do! Good luck! Let us know what happens in 3 weeks!

 

[aart]

It doesn’t matter in these circumstances...

Sure it can matter.

I would say the temperature is quite warm, probably ranging from 25-35 degrees celcius. We are currently going through hot summer weather so I guess that’s good for the eggs!

She may be rotating different ones in and out. Best of cLuck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've had hens that could easily cover 18 eggs the size she laid. I had a hen hide a nest and hatch 18 chicks. I never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she had to start with. I've had hens that 10 eggs the size she laid was all she could handle. Some hens are kind of broad in the beam and look like they are wearing old-fashioned bloomers. Others are sleeker, slimmer. Leghorns typically lay a fairly large egg for their body size. The nest may make a difference also. I typically give a hen a dozen eggs the size she lays but I'm not stiff and rigid about that, I try to stay flexible. When I see that it is too many for her to handle I take a couple of them away.

A hen needs to be able to cover all the eggs she has. If she can't an egg can get pushed out and cool off so the embryo dies. That egg gets pushed back under her and another gets pushed out to die. You typically do not get good hatches if the hen cannot cover them all.

If other hens can get to her nest they might lay an egg in it. Some broody hens have been known to moved an egg from a different nest to her nest. If the hen and her nest are not isolated from other hens where this cannot happen, I strongly suggest you mark the eggs you want her to hatch and check under her every day after the others have laid and remove any that do not belong. As long as you do this daily those other eggs are good to eat. Since mine hatch with the flock when I determine how many to give a hen I try to leave room for a couple of extras.

With your temperatures this should not apply to you. In summer a hen can handle more chicks after they hatch that she can in really cold weather. By cold weather I'm talking about close to freezing or below. Chicks grow really fast. A hen may be able to cover a dozen eggs but she may not be able to cover a dozen chicks after they've grown some. In your temperatures the chicks may not even sleep under the hen, I've seen plenty sleep next to or on top of her. If it is going to be cold for a month or so after they hatch i reduce the number of eggs I give her.

If she is having trouble covering all of them I'd remove a couple. Good luck!