Broody hen?? advice on letting her hatch

[lilnuggets]

I know it's a hard thing to do, but I would go ahead and cull out more eggs at the moment. Some of the eggs may get lost under the others and stop developing. Also, with that many eggs, she may accidentally crush them when getting on and off the nest. It's better to be safe than sorry. I would candle them again in about a week to check for progression.

Thank you for the reply. Would it be best to leave her with what comfortably fits under her or a specific number like 12 or 15 or something like that?

 

[lilnuggets]

Thank you for the reply. Would it be best to leave her with what comfortably fits under her or a specific number like 12 or 15 or something like that?

Also if I got an incubator today could I move some of the eggs in there and leave the hen with only a small amount like 6 to handle and hatch the rest out of the incubator? Or is it to late in the process to switch to an incubator?

 

[Jbently28]

I think 12 is a good all around number for her to comfortably set on. And yes you could go ahead and move them to an incubator. But the first question is, are you certain that they are all on the same day of development? Did any other hens have access to the nest while she was setting? If so, I would candle the eggs and leave her with eggs that all seem to be on close in development. If they are too far apart than she may leave the nest after the first ones hatch and abandon the rest. I would do the same with the eggs you choose the incubate.

 

[lilnuggets]

I think 12 is a good all around number for her to comfortably set on. And yes you could go ahead and move them to an incubator. But the first question is, are you certain that they are all on the same day of development? Did any other hens have access to the nest while she was setting? If so, I would candle the eggs and leave her with eggs that all seem to be on close in development. If they are too far apart than she may leave the nest after the first ones hatch and abandon the rest. I would do the same with the eggs you choose the incubate.

Yes other hens had access to the nest. She was sitting on every egg
Laid by all my hens except 4 and the eggs were laid over a 5 day period it looked like most eggs were on day 3 or 4 based on the candle images I saw online. There were a few that were more on the day 2 or 3 side. I will re candle them and pull anything that looks way off from the others.

 

[Jbently28]

I would try to block off the nest if possible. If the other hens still have access they will continue to lay and add to the clutch. You may end up with crushed eggs or (in my own personal experience) the other hens may kill the chicks during the hatching process.

 

[lilnuggets]

I would try to block off the nest if possible. If the other hens still have access they will continue to lay and add to the clutch. You may end up with crushed eggs or (in my own personal experience) the other hens may kill the chicks during the hatching process.

Sounds good I have an old duck house/run I can move her too I just need to clean it up a little first. I have marked all the eggs she is sitting on and go out every few hours to pull the new ones laid by the other hens.

Is it best to move the entire nesting box (the box she is in is easy to move) with the eggs in it or should I just move the hen and the eggs to a new nesting box in her own area?

 

[happyhens1972]

I, personally, would start again with eggs you know are freshly laid and therefore will definitely develop at the same stage/rate/stages. I know it's hard to throw out eggs you know are viable but if they are at different ages, they are going to suffer one way or another at a later point and you will do nothing but fret and worry. She seems like she is firmly setting so should accept the swap.

My method for the move when I faced a similar situation was this....

I carefully selected freshly laid eggs and marked them with a pencil. I placed the new eggs on top of a fresh bedding nest (chopped straw) in a low sided cardboard box (A3 printer paper box lid!). I then went out after dark with a head torch, lifted the broody off her nest, took away her mixed eggs and replaced her on the already prepared new nest, in the same spot. This meant she would then just settle back down in the dark, as they do, but she would be in a movable box....hen, eggs, nest and all! It sounds like you may already have this set up in place???

I then gave her a couple of days to really settle back in, removing any eggs laid by other hens in the interim. Once I was convinced she was serious about the hatch, I went out, after dark again, and moved the whole hen/egg/nest/box ensemble in one 'piece' into a previously prepared separate house and run, where I could then leave her totally in peace to get on with her business without the interference from me or the other hens.

As far as number goes...I gave her enough eggs that she could comfortably cover the lot with her actual body (not just her voluminous feathers....she was a very fluffy Cochin) In her case, that was 12. She went on to successfully hatch and raise them all and I had a lot less stress as I was happy knowing she had the privacy and security offered by the new set up and that all of her eggs would hatch together. Incidentally, the new house and run were still in full view of the rest of the hens so she could hear all the familiar goings on and not fret about where her flock had gone!

Good luck, whatever your choice xxx

 

[lilnuggets]

I, personally, would start again with eggs you know are freshly laid and therefore will definitely develop at the same stage/rate/stages. I know it's hard to throw out eggs you know are viable but if they are at different ages, they are going to suffer one way or another at a later point and you will do nothing but fret and worry. She seems like she is firmly setting so should accept the swap.

My method for the move when I faced a similar situation was this....

I carefully selected freshly laid eggs and marked them with a pencil. I placed the new eggs on top of a fresh bedding nest (chopped straw) in a low sided cardboard box (A3 printer paper box lid!). I then went out after dark with a head torch, lifted the broody off her nest, took away her mixed eggs and replaced her on the already prepared new nest, in the same spot. This meant she would then just settle back down in the dark, as they do, but she would be in a movable box....hen, eggs, nest and all! It sounds like you may already have this set up in place???

I then gave her a couple of days to really settle back in, removing any eggs laid by other hens in the interim. Once I was convinced she was serious about the hatch, I went out, after dark again, and moved the whole hen/egg/nest/box ensemble in one 'piece' into a previously prepared separate house and run, where I could then leave her totally in peace to get on with her business without the interference from me or the other hens.

As far as number goes...I gave her enough eggs that she could comfortably cover the lot with her actual body (not just her voluminous feathers....she was a very fluffy Cochin) In her case, that was 12. She went on to successfully hatch and raise them all and I had a lot less stress as I was happy knowing she had the privacy and security offered by the new set up and that all of her eggs would hatch together. Incidentally, the new house and run were still in full view of the rest of the hens so she could hear all the familiar goings on and not fret about where her flock had gone!

Good luck, whatever your choice xxx

Thank you! I am working on cleaning up the old duck run today to get her ready to move and I am going to candle the eggs tonight and see how many appear the be at the same stages so I can figure out what to do from there.

 

[lilnuggets]

What are the chances a 2nd hen will go broody and help co-parent with another hen? When I checked on my broody this morning I had another hen that is now sitting on half the egg who is very angry that I was even close to them she puffed put and tried to bit me all while yelling at me lol.

Is it even possible to have 2 brooding hens share eggs/babies without any issues?

 

[happyhens1972]

I had a hen hatch sixteen chicks once and another hen who I had been trying to break of her broodiness, laid claim to them as well and they brought them up together....so it is possible for them to 'share' chicks but I'd be very wary of trying to force this situation as normally a mother hen will aggressively defend her babies against intruders who get too close. As for sharing the eggs....no, I wouldn't try that as they will likely steal them to and fro and either damage them or chill them or damage each other in the squabbles. You could possibly let the second hen sit on dummy eggs and then adopt some chicks across to her from the first hen once they've hatched, but they would still ideally need their own separate nests and rearing areas.