Co-Brooding

[Gromstomper]

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I had something curious happen today and I am looking to get some insight on it. This morning I put 2 fertile eggs underneath my brooding bantam silkie. A few minutes ago I went out to bring her another egg to hatch and discovered one of my other hens had taken over sitting on the eggs. My other hen appeared to be actively rolling the eggs with her beak as if she had taken over brooding duty. She was not broody this morning so I am a little taken aback that she appears to have assumed responsibility. Should I let them decide who broods or should I keep moving the eggs under the one that has been broody for weeks? Thanks!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

This can be a tricky situation.

Some hens co-brood wonderfully together. It is not uncommon for one hen to go broody to give the idea to another.

However, I have seen those who are less sincere (I have my Cream Legbar in mind here) who butt into the brooding hen to take over the nest for a few hours only to abandon it in half hearted effort. That obviously is not a good scenario.

So, it really depends on your hens. With your Silkie...my guess, if she is true to her breed is that she will be rock solid to brood...however if she is lower on the pecking order, she may easily get pushed off her nest. If the other hen is serious about brooding, they can begin to compete for the eggs with dismal results by crushing or losing eggs. With that in mind, I would totally isolate her in her own little nest and give her eggs.

Just to be sure you know, you should give all eggs at once, meaning set them all at the same time. A few hours, even 1 day, seems to be the limit of adding in later (I've snuck one in the next day after setting the night before with no ill result). Otherwise, you get a staggered hatch which threatens successful hatch rates as momma either sits on eggs ignoring hatched chicks (letting them dehydrate) or gets up with the hatched abandoning the almost developed eggs.

Good luck with your broodies.

LofMc

 

[Gromstomper]

Good morning and thank you so much for this detailed reply. It turns out that Red (the second hen) just wanted to lay an egg and temporarily displaced my silkie. Once red was finished, the silkie gathered the eggs and continued sitting on them all.

I will keep the egg staggering in mind for the future. My wife's friend gifted us a single egg so that's why I put it under the silkie. I'm still getting used to the fact that it's the warmth that starts the growth process, not the fertilization.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I'm loving learning every little detail about raising chickens!