hatching naturally

[gramps]

My blue cochin is broody and is setting on about 5 eggs right now. I have added a couple of eggs from another hen. will the one that is setting quit laying her own eggs ?How many can she handle and should i quit adding other eggs?
Gramps

 

[yinepu]

My blue cochin is broody and is setting on about 5 eggs right now. I have added a couple of eggs from another hen. will the one that is setting quit laying her own eggs ?How many can she handle and should i quit adding other eggs?
Gramps

yes she will stop laying once she seriously starts setting the nest.. as for how many she can handle.. well.. that all depends on her size.. so long as you don't see any eggs peeking out she will cover as many as you want to put under her... once you start seeing eggs you know she has too many to handle

For a first time broody I always just go with a few .. some people go with as many as they can cover.. it all just depends on your choice.. just remember though.. eggs that are set later on will not hatch at the same time as the first set eggs.. so she may abandon them after the first chicks hatch... to avoid that, many people will use wooden or ceramic eggs first under the hen; and once they have enough eggs they remove the fake ones and add all the real eggs at the same time.. it helps to ensure that they will all hatch about the same time