Yes, we generally learn the hard way, don't we? So far so good on this one. Babe's still doing well. Though I wonder if it helps that they've been harassed so much through their sitting. Do you have an opinion on leaving broodies alone or checking eggs and them every day? I'm sure you do, but I'd like to hear it!
Me, have an opinion!? Good grief, you must be thinking of someone else.
Not only do I have some opinions on this subject, I have scientific evidence to back them up, not to mention my own observations.
I check broody hens every day assuming I can find them. I make sure they get off their nests at least once a day, break the broody trance properly, eat, drink, dust bath and poop away from their nests. Most do this naturally if they are not confined. The ones that don't or I am doubtful about I lift off the nest and carry to one of the feed points and feed them there. Quite a few of the broody hens here now come and find me when they get off the nest. They know I'll feed them.
I try not to touch the eggs. I definitely don't candle, wash, play egg billiards, drop them in water, show them to my friends, or use an incubator because I want to play at being mum.
I will remove eggs if the clutch is of a size that could produce more chicks than I can house and feed. Six eggs to eight eggs is what I normally go for. If all the eggs hatch half are likely to be male. Given the ideal ratio here seems to be one male to two or three females extra males I'll have to kill and eat.
I'll move an entire clutch and hen if I consider her nest site unsafe. I'm not concerned about the eggs, I'm concerned about the mum. Some pullets pick some seriously stupid nest sites mainly because they are not confident about defending their nests and chicks in their tribes coop from the senior hens. As far as the senior hens are concerned they are the ones that should be furthering the genetic line because they got to be senior. Not many die of old age here.
If there are egg breakages in the nest I clean up the nest and hen as best I can. The reason for this is if the hen's underside is covered in sticky egg, she can't maneuver her eggs into the optimal position and this can cause birth defects in any chicks that hatch.
There have been a few studies regarding the importance of letting the hen manage her clutch.
It has already been proven that a hen in a well made and undisturbed nest has a better hatch rate than an incubator. (papers on this are relatively easy to find)
The paper below isn't so widely read and judging from an exchange on BYC on another thread, the implications of the findings not well understood.
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1516-635X2016000600001&script=sci_arttext
The above paper was the stepping stone for a number of other studies. I've read two more now which you would need a university pass to access. There are some others apparently that you can purchase but I haven't read them.
) A bit through the thread you find out that the bullies were the same breed and a much larger breed than the victims.
