Hatching eggs and 2 broody hens

[J WUK]

Update on the eggs: went out to the coop earlier and found that one of the BCMs had hatched. Within 5 minutes one of our "mutts" hatched from the other nest. The other broody hen had abandoned her nest and there were some other hens looking at this chick hatching so I picked it up and put it under the other hen who has been taking good care of it.

 

[Monkeybean415]

Congrats! I've read that the second hen can sometime abandon their nest when they hear the first chick hatch from the other broody. Did you put all of her eggs under that first one? Hope the rest of your hatch goes well! I'm dealing with a new broody today and trying to get her to sit on these darn eggs.

 

[J WUK]

Yep, once I realized that she abandoned her nest and the one started to hatch, I moved all the eggs under the other hen. One was trying to hatch earlier but I haven't checked on it since then. I went out to peak in the coop and there were quite a few hens trying to get in the nesting box with the broody hen so I'm a little concerned about the chicks being safe but will let the mom do her thing. If I notice any chicks in trouble, I will probably fence the mom off with the chicks and remaining eggs just for protection but so far so good.