We have only hatched with a broody hen once. This year two hens went broody at the same time. We moved one hen with her clutch to her own pen. While trying to figure out where we wanted to put the other hen- we let her stay in the coop with the rest of the flock. 2 days into it we found that other hens were on top of her in the nest box and we ended up with three broken eggs. She decided to abandon the whole clutch and moved to another box. We found out shortly after it happened... but the eggs were cold. So- we put a couple more eggs under her and modified the box. A hen still managed to get on top of her this morning. Sooooo I moved her into the garage- into the chick brooder. It took her over 2 hours to sit back on the eggs. Now my question is- because she had only been sitting on this clutch for about 17 hours- do you think they are ok??? Should we let her sit on them or replace them?
