broody hen question

[amberroswell]

I have two hens that are sisters they have always shared a nesting box they take turns, well 17 days ago one of the hens went broody and we soon realized that she was still allowing her sister to lay her eggs their needless to say we have a mountain of eggs going lol some of the eggs are due to be hatching soon and we are wondering how long does a hen stay broody is she going to sit there until all the eggs are hatched because everyday her sister leaves her a new one to hatch, do i need to move her sister? what do i do? the broody hen is coming out daily to drink and fluff in the dirt and i have food and water right next to her. how long will she stay there? is the broody hen still adding to the pile of eggs daily? will they just stay broody and keep laying eggs to hatch I want them back to normal they were our best layers!

 

[snowflake]

I have a Buff Orpington that hatched 6 chicks 8 weeks ago, the other hens kept laying in the nest so I separated her so no more were added. you can mark the eggs you want her to hatch or first laid eggs with a marker. we did that with our last 2 to go broody then separated them so they didn't get stressed every time we took newly laid eggs out of the nest. Hens stop laying when they go broody but will sit on as many eggs as the other hens lay and they seem to be glad to add to the pile. My buff who is a very good momma. quit setting when the first to hatch were 2 days old as they would get away from her and she had to go chase. We have 2 hens broody now a Sussex and an EE all there eggs should hatch around the same day as I marked the eggs when the Sussex went broody then when the EE went broody I took some eggs from the Sussex and put them under the EE. I don't need any more chicks so I have limited them to 5 all together. Should be hatching any day now.

 

[amberroswell]

some of the eggs are due to be hatching in a few days will she keep trying to hatch all the others?

 

[pgpoultry]

Usually momma hen will keep sitting until all the eggs that are going to hatch have hatched.

You must ensure that others are not adding to her brood pile or she could be brooding for a very long time. It is also difficult for a hen to have week old chicks and eggs not hatched and it will be difficult for you to manage chicks of multiple ages.

Exclude the other hen(s) in whatever way you can.

Good Luck for the hatch,

Sandie

 

[kudzu vine]

Marking the eggs that you want to hatch is the answer and remove all others each day. If not, all those other eggs will ruin. Usually hens will sit 21 days and once she comes off with babies, any other eggs are no good.