Felonious Hen

[Khommet's Koop]

I have a hen who is a thief...Believe that???

Two weeks ago she went broody and started sitting on what I thought was 1-2 eggs. Not long before that my other hens just started laying their own eggs for the first time. Since then she has somehow been getting their eggs under her. She has so many she can't cover them all...what to do...

I know what to do in the future, build nesting boxes. But for now, I don't know how the hatching is going to go. I don't know which ones she just put in there so I haven't taken any out. I thought she would some how quit. She only lays white and I think there is only one white one in the bunch. She doesn't get all of them, I still get 1-2 that she left away from her bunch. So until I noticed the eggs popping out from underneath her I didn't have a clue. You ever heard of such a thing? The one I want to hatch is actually hers. She and my roo are the same breed (Welsommer sp?). I fear it won't happen as I saw white peeking out from under her the other day and I pushed it back towards the center. Again... what to do? I think I'm going to have some rotten half developed eggs to deal with. The first hatching is due this coming Sunday.

Khommet

 

[thespinningcottage]

I have read that staggered hatches are often full of problems. Broody hens are notorious for wanting to sit on whatever they can get beneath them. Most people mark the eggs that they want her to hatch, and remove the others or separate her altogether while she sits. Since you now have an abundance of eggs under her, you could remove the ones you're not sure about and do your own staggered hatch in an incubator, or try candling to see which ones are further along. Do some searches on this site to read more. Good luck!

 

[pgpoultry]

It is a good idea to move some of the staggered hatch to an incubator about 2-3 days after her first chick has hatched. (I'm assuming you have an incubator).If the eggs are very spaced apart momma will either leave eggs to look after the first chicks to hatch or will sit for too long and not be out 'showing them the ropes'

When a hen goes broody she may steal other hens' eggs and other hens may lay eggs in her nest, both of which will increase her clutch,

Sandie

 

[thespinningcottage]

Also, if she's on lots of eggs she can't keep them all warm enough and the outer ones will cool. Better to research the recommended number for her breed and limit her to just that many.