MuthaMuthaCluck
In the Brooder
- Mar 26, 2022
- 3
- 22
- 26
Hi all, so my wife and I kinda messed up. We're new to hatching chicks and just had a baby, so things are chaos.
We have 3 nesting boxes that are about 2' off the ground. A hen went broody and was sitting on a couple eggs. Due to being so busy and not eating eggs as much, we just said let's see what happens and let nature take its course, lol, big mistake. What we didn't realize, is that half the other 13 hens were laying eggs in the same nesting box. After a couple weeks, there were 4 broody hens between 2 boxes, and we're only getting a couple eggs in the 3rd. Finally I said we've gotta do something, and we lifted the hens and there were 45 eggs .
So I marked them all, and started removing any new eggs. The problem is the eggs started hatching, but there's still tons of eggs left and obviously their timeframes are all over the place. The hens aren't really looking after the chicks, 2 of them have died. They're really sticking to the eggs. I figured they bring food to the chicks, but I learned that's not the case.
I can remove all the eggs, and put the chicks on the ground, but that seems like a waste of potential chick's. Or I can bring down 1 hen and the chicks? Not really sure the best route. Any advice?
We have 3 nesting boxes that are about 2' off the ground. A hen went broody and was sitting on a couple eggs. Due to being so busy and not eating eggs as much, we just said let's see what happens and let nature take its course, lol, big mistake. What we didn't realize, is that half the other 13 hens were laying eggs in the same nesting box. After a couple weeks, there were 4 broody hens between 2 boxes, and we're only getting a couple eggs in the 3rd. Finally I said we've gotta do something, and we lifted the hens and there were 45 eggs .
So I marked them all, and started removing any new eggs. The problem is the eggs started hatching, but there's still tons of eggs left and obviously their timeframes are all over the place. The hens aren't really looking after the chicks, 2 of them have died. They're really sticking to the eggs. I figured they bring food to the chicks, but I learned that's not the case.
I can remove all the eggs, and put the chicks on the ground, but that seems like a waste of potential chick's. Or I can bring down 1 hen and the chicks? Not really sure the best route. Any advice?