Offgridhermit you said ""If more end up in the nest, I won't worry about it since I get nearly 16 eggs a day if not more "" Getting plenty of eggs has nothing to do with it----you remove ALL fresh layed eggs so your hen does not Have to Stress herself after the first few hatch---Knowing she has to get off the nest to feed the new, chicks and she also knows there are other chicks that are about to hatch---If you do not remove all the fresh layed eggs EVERY day from the first day she starts setting---you are going to have problems---chicks about ready to hatch that will die in the egg---This would Stress Me if I allowed that to happen. I set ALOT of hens---all their chicks hatch usually within 24hrs period. She leaves the nest with all her hatch chicks and does not have to stress over any unhatched chicks because I removed ALL fresh layed eggs daily from her nest. I do not have to Stress because there in no other unhatched eggs in her nest with partial developed chicks in the eggs. BUT as I say many times, Its your Chickens and You can raise them Any Way You want-----I am just trying to offer helpful info. Good Luck with All your Future hatches!!The nest she is using is a basket I picked up at a thrift store for a couple of dollars. A lot of my other nesting boxes are dish pans from the dollar store. I also use cat and dog carriers for other nesting boxes. I was going to use buckets but the way I had them set up, the hens were to big to get into them. Most prefer the dish pans.
What's funny is the big rooster and 2 or 3 of the hens sleep all piled up in the dog carrier.I was doing a head count one night and thought I had some missing hens, till I counted all the heads in the carrier. Crazy birds.
I'll mark the eggs in the nest next time she leaves it to eat. If more end up in the nest, I won't worry about it since I get nearly 16 eggs a day if not more. I'll also candle the eggs in a couple of days to see if any are developing.
