broody hen question

[slightlyscrambled]

okay so I have what I think is an Old English Game Bantam that went broody on 4-8-09 with 4 eggs under her. today I caught her off the nest and there are 13-15 eggs! is she still laying eggs while brooding, or is someone else getting in her box and laying. what am I going to do when they start hatching? will she continue to lay on the others or ?????? and should I move her now to a crate or just leave her be? her box is a metal nest box that has about three rows of 5. hope someone can help

 

[Redhead Hen]

Other hens may be laying in her nest. That is what would happen when my RIRs laid. They all laid in the same box. I would move the broody hen - maybe after dark to help her not freak out. Now the only problem I see is the age of the other eggs. Did you mark the 4 she was originally sitting on? Now she is sitting on eggs in all different stages of incubation.

Hopefully someone with more experience will come along and answer too.

 

[slightlyscrambled]

that is my biggest dilema, eggs at different stages and what should I do?

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

hhmm, candle the eggs tonight? see if there are any clear eggs you can remove, perhaps you can group them by stage of development? I would definitely put her in her own crate/nest where the others can no longer "contribute". Is there any way you can borrow/buy/build an incubator to incubate eggs that are in different stages of development? I've read that a broody will leave the nest after 1 day or so to take care of the chicks that have hatched leaving any unhatched eggs in the nest.

 

[noriko]

Yes. My broody silkies are still laying while brooding. And she will sit on someone else's eggs if they are using the same nesting box too. I usually put the date on the eggs. So you know when the hens layed the eggs & when the eggs are going to hatch. The best thing to do is getting the eggs from the nesting box everyday & keep them with the room temp. in the house. (but, don't use the old eggs!) And when the hens went broody, write the date on the eggs & put them under your broody hens. So, the broody can hatch all of the eggs on the same day! And.....you can put the chicks in the brooder in the house after they hatched or you can put the remaining eggs in the bator. Because the broody hens will leave the nesting box with the chicks when the chicks start moving around. I think it's better if you can move her to a crate or something so, the other hens will not bother her lol I sometimes move them to the crate or something .... and I just sometimes leave them in the nesting box because it's getting warmer. They are usually fine with the both ways, though. But, Some hens might peck the chicks even they are with their Mom, though! so, you should keep an eye on them.

Noriko.

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