Broody hen laid an egg ?¿

[Mckennas poultry]

So here’s “henny penny” my broody Rhode Island Red hen, she’s been broody on golf balls for 5 days, her fertile eggs will arrive on Tuesday ( we will be hatching brahamas and I might add in some of my own flocks eggs ) I decided to take a peep at the nest yesterday to see if she was keeping it tidy and I found 2 of her own eggs. Is it normal for them to lay for the first couple of days ? I’ve never had a hen that did this before....
I would also like to know how much eggs would fit under a RIR hen, I was thinking 12 but share your thoughts and opinions on that too

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Are you sure she is broody and not w just doing normal nesting bahaviour?Is she always on the nest?You can’t order eggs while the hen is already sitting and has these eggs prepared,she may abandon the ones you give her if they take to long.She could be laying for her own self to have something to hatch.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Also a lot more then twelve can fit under her,maybe twenty at the most.

 

[Mckennas poultry]

Are you sure she is broody and not w just doing normal nesting bahaviour?Is she always on the nest?You can’t order eggs while the hen is already sitting and has these eggs prepared,she may abandon the ones you give her if they take to long.She could be laying for her own self to have something to hatch.

She’s sitting on golf balls.....
She’s definitely broody, she’s on the nest 24/7 only out for 15 mins a day and when she is out she has her wings dropped down and she gets into fights with the others often now

 

[Mckennas poultry]

Sometimes I catch her turning the eggs too

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Oh ok that’s good.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

You might be able to get away with the extra eggs,as I did the same thing,I put eggs under hen my hen four days later after her alreDy having three,now all the eggs are hatching accost the extra three,but she is still sitting.

 

[featheredplanets]

If you’re sure she is broody, I’d assume she was just adding to the clutch. Not too sure on that one, sorry.
I would say 12 eggs at most, while it is tempting to put more and more under hens, they do have to brood those chicks too. Normal clutches they lay themselves are usually 6-12 eggs. 12 is a good number. If you want more chicks invest in a incubator, remember, you’ll get plenty of cockerels you’ll have to sort out too

 

[Shezadandy]

Had a hen go broody and found one of her eggs laid about 2-3 days before when I went to add the desired eggs (I always wait 3 days to make sure they're committed)- and there it was. Adding an egg or two past being visually broody is probably normal.

The bigger issue as others have stated is the time difference between HER eggs (assuming they're fertile) and the shipped eggs. Her eggs will hatch a week before the shipped eggs- and she may walk away from the nest before your shipped eggs hatch.

I just got SUPER lucky with a hen that stayed on a late addition to her clutch (another hen managed to sneak through the tiny opening to lay with the broody unbeknownst to me) - Tuesday til Sunday. It was quite a spread. Even though she did have the giant poop after that third day of the main group, she was nice enough to stay put.

I would have an incubator standing by- you might be raising the shipped eggs separately. It's not impossible - but I would definitely be prepared.

 

[Hensndoes]

I read somewhere here that 13 is the magic number. Something about the way they fit together and hens striving to collect that number. After reading that here I saw a post on a breeders fb page about a hen that showed back up one day with chicks in tow - 13 of them. Any more than that and the hen may not be able to cover them as well and you may find her kicking more eggs out of the nest.