broody hen but others add more eggs

[Saponaria]

I have a broody Cochin hen trying to set. However our hens have all had the habit of piling in the same nest box to lay eggs with the others. This hen appears to be trying to set but other hens get in and add MORE eggs. What should I do? I'd like to let her set the eggs but I am not sure what to do. I have never had roosters before this year so we never hatched any eggs.

Her nest box is off the ground. Can I move her and the eggs? I was wondering if I should maybe mark all the eggs in the box and fight off attack to remove any new eggs the other hens lay in there? But if we go in and "steal" her eggs to mark them will she continue to set on them if we put them all back either in the same nest or in a new nest box on the ground? How many eggs are too many for a banty Cochin hen to try and set? Thanks!

 

[BellLisamo]

yes yes, move her at night. WITH gloves.... you dont want a hole in your hand! I have a thread on here called broody suites, you should check it out.

here is it https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=168783

Good luck


ETA: I gave my banty hen 12 eggs, but they were small silkie eggs

 

[M@M@2four]

You could try to move her to her own cage--set up a nice little bed with shavings(I like pine) and set her eggs in a nice pile and most likely she'll sit. Or you could just mark the eggs like you said, so when new eggs are added, you can remove those. I had this happen a couple times and the hen just kept sticking the new eggs under her as well--she hatched out babies several days apart with no problem.

Obviously, you can only give her as many as she can sit on!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have a few options. One is to leave the hen where she is, mark the eggs you want to set with a black magic marker, and remove the other newly laid eggs daily. She will go back to them if you remove them to mark them.

Another option is to move the hen to where the others cannot lay in her nest. This basically involves a pen where you can lock the hen with food, water, and enough room to get off the nest and relieve herself. I'll include two links. The first is how to move a broody hen.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16275

The second gives a lot of good information on how one lady manages her broody hens. Note that she probably has a different set-up than you so not everything will apply to you, but it is loaded with good information.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/broody-hens-1.html

 

[vfem]

My hens do the same things to my broodies... plus the like to sleep in their nesting box at night too.

I mark the eggs she is hatching with an "X" and then in the morning I collect the unmarked eggs since I know they are from the other hens.

I've had a bad experience moving a broody and her eggs, she ended up giving up. So now I let the silkies just pile up and do their thing. Plus my rooster protects the babies if they are born in the coop. It just seems to work out nicely that way.

 

[Saponaria]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16275

The second gives a lot of good information on how one lady manages her broody hens. Note that she probably has a different set-up than you so not everything will apply to you, but it is loaded with good information.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/broody-hens-1.html

Thank you! The second article is wonderful. I love the idea of trusting the hens to mother their chicks. The first link was about urine for fox deterrent though.​

 

[Saponaria]

Thank you all for the prompt replies! I read the thread on the broody suites and my husband went ahead and moved our broody hen to one. She is in the coop now with it. We just let her have all the eggs she had. She has food and water in there. She didn't immediately sit down on her eggs though so I hope she does soon. I am going to give her some time before checking on her.

Wish us luck! I am so excited about the idea of one of our hens hatching her own eggs. Well, the eggs of all the hens. She has 18 under her but many of them are banty eggs. She was so cute how she had herself all puffed out to cover them up. She cackled at us if we got near her. I don't know how to describe the noise exactly but definitely different than usual.

Now I need to figure out what people do to insure what eggs end up getting hatched and whom they were fertilized by. This could be a rather motley looking group. We have buff orpingtons, silver laced cochins, different kinds of silkies , americaunas and belgian d' uccle in the coop right now.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Thank you! The second article is wonderful. I love the idea of trusting the hens to mother their chicks. The first link was about urine for fox deterrent though.

Try this one. I dropped the 9 on the cut and paste.

Sorry

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=162759