Broody Silkies sharing eggs

LeadHead

In the Brooder
8 Years
Apr 5, 2011
42
0
32
I have 2 Silky hens for brooding purposes. They both recently began brooding some of their own eggs immediately next to each other in the straw on the floor of the coop (forget nesting boxes!). As is common, if one gets up to go eat/drink/stretch her legs, the other steals her eggs and babysits them. The problem is that some of the eggs are more developed than others, so as a result of them swapping/stealing eggs from each other they each now have a mix-match of developing eggs. I could sort the eggs and move the hens into their own caged area where they can't steal from each other, but am worried about breaking up their broodiness in the process of doing so. What should a person do in a situation such as this?
 
Make a broody pen and separate them by either 1/2" wire or netting. Don't use chicken wire because the chicks can get threw it after hatch causing issues with chick steeling as well. While some have reported success with community hatches most people run into problems with eggs and even chicks being stolen and crushed in the process.
 

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