Broody questions

[Mother of All]

I have a BO that went broody last Tuesday. on Wed I layed 3 eggs in front of her to see what she would do. She tucked them under her so I know three are not hers. Thursday My son got her up so I counted 7 eggs. She has food and water next to her. This morning she came out for their weekly lettuce time. I went in and counted 9. so #1 when do I start counting days or # 2 will she have a scattered hatch. If so #3 does she set on the first ones for that long ( we are talking at least 5 days between the first and the last one layed) And #4 how much longer will she still lay eggs? I have already went from 12 hens last year to buying 13 this year and hatching 29 others. my back yard is getting full

 

[SpringChickens]

#1 - start counting days from when she first started sitting on eggs #2 - YES - if she added two more eggs, she will have a scattered hatch (they start developing as soon as she starts keeping them warm)

#3 - She will probably do one of two things - ONE, she MAY abandon her eggs once her chicks start hatching or TWO, she may keep sitting on eggs until they all hatch - letting her hatched chicks starve to death.

#4 They are probably not her eggs - other hens are probably coming in to lay eggs in her box. If they are her eggs, she probably laid them fairly close to when she first became broody, and you shouldn't have a huge problem with a scattered hatch.

I would candle all of her eggs and remove any which don't seem to be developing yet (or are significantly less developed than the rest).

Good luck!

 

[Mother of All]

Thanks for the info. About #4. she is nesting on the floor and this morning was the first time she got up off the nest. I really don't think any of the others are laying there and I'm getting the proper egg count from all the others. When should I candle them. when I hatched eggs in my incubator I didn't candle until a week.

 

[Bunnylady]

I suspect other hens may be laying eggs in or near her nest, too. As you have seen, they often will pull any egg (or anything that looks like an egg!) into the nest. I've learned to use a pencil to mark the eggs that the hen started out with, then check every day or two and remove any that don't have my mark on them. That way, all of the eggs being incubated have the same "due date," and the hen won't wind up with more eggs than she can effectively cover.

 

[SpringChickens]

Great advice, Bunny Lady! I would highly recommend marking them with a pencil as well.

You can candle them today. You should be able to see veining by now.

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

I'd also put up a partition so the other hens can't get into her nest, and so she can't steal eggs.