Eggs under a broody hen

[rnorris1234]

I purchased my first hatching eggs ever and they arrived yesterday. Nothing cracked or broken! I ordered 6 eggs and she sent 4 extra (but 4 eggs of different breeds from what i orders, oh well...) I put all 10 eggs under my broody bantam cochin. She has been broody for over a week with no eggs so I really, really hope she will continue to sit and hatch these eggs for me. Is it too much to put 10 eggs under one hen? How many can you safely put under a bantam cochin? (these are also bantam eggs).
If the hen decides to give up on the eggs, is there anything I can do to encourage her to get back on the nest? She has been very determined to sit on nothing for over a week. She will not move and gets very, very, nasty and upset if I try to move her out of the nest box, so I hope she will stay and be a good mother.
I don't ever see her leave and eat or drink, etc. (But I'm at work all day and only see them in the morning and evening). How will I know if she is getting enough to eat and drink? Should I put food and water in the coop area, or just assume that she is leaving the nest at some point to eat adn drink.
Wish me luck on my first hatch! and thanks for any advise that you can share.
Robert

 

[kindir]

I have a broody bantam cochin sitting on 8 eggs. Of course, they haven't hatched yet, so no clue how it will work as this is my first, but she seems to easily have room for the 8.

As for encouraging her, I doubt you'll have an issue if yours is anything like mine. I took mine out of the coop, moved her and the 8 eggs to a medium sized dog crate and she sat RIGHT back down. A word of caution - don't leave the food/water too close to her or she may not get far enough from the eggs before "eliminating". Mine went all over her eggs and now I'm wondering if they are even going to hatch...

In terms of eating and drinking, mine seems to just get up once or twice a day, eats a TON, drinks a TON and poops one huge poop.

I clean that one poop out every day and she seems to appreciate it now that she understands I'm not there to mess with her eggs.

Good luck!

 

[FarmGirl01]

kindir... hit the nail on the head. I usually only put 8 eggs under a bantam broody. You could put all 10 or take out 2 of the ones you didn't order. If you are worried about her eating and drinking, just pick her up and give her some food and water. She will most likely take a dust bath first. LOL Good luck.

 

[rnorris1234]

Can I take eggs out from under her in a few day and candle to see what if any eggs are developing? Will I have any fingers left if I try to remove some of her eggs? What do chickens do with eggs that aren't growing? Do they even know if they have a bad egg?

Robert

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
They often do, but they're not fool proof detectors of bad eggs. Some of my hens have eaten eggs that weren't developing. I've heard of other folks' hens just pushing the bad egg out of the nest.

You can certainly candle the eggs. I would take the hen out of the nest for a food/dustbath break and candle while she's freshening up.

 

[Tropical Chook]

I have two broody bantams in one nest but only the one has eggs to sit on. Whenever I put my hand in the one on the eggs makes very angry noises but she has never gone for me. The other broody is different though because she'll actually fly at you if you go to close. My eggs are due to hatch either today or tomorrow, but I only have four which were shipped from very far so I can only hope