broody hen and eggs ?

[scooby]

So 2 summers ago I added new chicks to my flock, and ever since they started laying they have been laying everywhere but in the coop, and then i lost quite a few this past yr. so now i am down to 5 girls and a Roo, they had pretty much stopped laying all this past winter, and if they did lay it was where we couldn't find the eggs, so my kids stopped going to get the eggs, well to my surprise i went out to the coop yesterday and there is at least 6 dozen or so out there all scattered in piles around our coop. but also to my amazement our young RIR has gone broody. she has made a nest in the corner of the coop and was setting on them. But when i threw some feed she got up to eat and i realized there is about 10 or so eggs she is setting on and they are all different colors so not all hers......this morning i went to check her and she had moved them about a ft or so to a "new" nest. SO i plan to go and throw out the other piles of eggs since i have no idea how old they are but i don't want to disturb her and have no idea how long she has been setting, so what should i do, should i start a countdown from yesterday for day 21, candle the eggs and see if i can see veins or chicks? Also there are so many will she be able to handle that many in a hatch? should i attempt to move her to a nest box or just let her continue her hatch on the coop floor?

 

[scooby]

i just candled them and (they are all brown or deep brown egg) from what i can tell there are 3 i am pretty sure are growing, another 3 that may be started and 4 that probably aren't but could possibly be the yoke seems dark/thicker but i see no veins or spots. but i had a hard time candleing the last 5 cause my sm. flashlight quit working and my larger one was spilling light making it hard to see clearly. should i just leave all of them alone or remove the ones i think are just started or could she be ok sitting a extra week or so after a few hatch?

 

[bobbi-j]

I'd just let her be. Bother her too much, and she may abandon the nest. She'll get off the nest when she feels all the eggs have hatched. I haven't seen it myself, but have read on the forum that hens will also kick bad eggs out of the nest during incubation. Either the eggs or hatch, or they won't. She'll know what to do.

 

[JanO]

I'd just let her be. Bother her too much, and she may abandon the nest. She'll get off the nest when she feels all the eggs have hatched. I haven't seen it myself, but have read on the forum that hens will also kick bad eggs out of the nest during incubation. Either the eggs or hatch, or they won't. She'll know what to do.

I agree. I'd take out the eggs that she isn't sitting on and leave the ones she is. If you bother her too much she could very well abandon the nest. Granted not all of the eggs may be viable, but worry about that later. I had a hen sit on a clutch of 15 eggs and only hatch 4. As soon as she was ready she abandoned the nest and I got rid of the extra eggs.

 

[scooby]

OK so would it be ok to add some bantam eggs, i have a friend that has some mille fluers and i was thinking about adding them to the nest so they would be about a week off of the 3 that are for sure growing, i figure those are anywhere from 4-7 days out. so would she remain on the nest to finish hatching them, or will she abandon it as soon as the first ones hatch......

 

[JanO]

It would be risky to put new eggs under her at this late date. She will sit in the nest approximately 2 days after the hatch, then her instincts will tell her to take the chicks out for food, and leave the rest behind. I would think that newer eggs would not have a chance to hatch before that time comes and would hate to see you lose potentially viable eggs.