hen hatching eggs

[pattiedd]

I have some broody hens. One has so many eggs under her I couldn't imagine what she would do when they hatch. Now they have started. She has 4 hatched and out of the nest she choosee ( a milk crate with hay) clever little chicks to get out. I have put a heat lamp in their area and some water - mom was very thankful for the water. THE CONCERN - should I take the babes to the house and incubate? should I steal some of the remaining 12+ eggs and try to hatch them in my incubator?? let nature take its course…..its it rainy and cool today
thanks

 

[Sylviaanne]

It doesn't look like anyone answered you and whatever was going to happen probably already did but if it were me, I'd wait until the mom left the nest and move the left over eggs into an incubator for a few days to make sure all that were going to hatch, hatched. Sylvia

 

[pattiedd]

Sylvia thanks for the reply. I took some eggs to the house to incubate, good thing as there was a dead chick under her too. I cleaned up the mess, left her three eggs which she abandoned. She and her brood mate are coraising the chicks. Never seen anything like it. one f the other hens is raising her chick in the area ( they are all free range in the fullest sense of the term). They are doing okay.

 

[Sylviaanne]

You are very welcome. I hate it when I pose a question and it looks like no one cares. I know they do but it still feels that way.

I had a hen like that once. Only if I remember correctly and that's not a sure thing, there were 2 dead babies and some broken eggs. I don't remember how many eggs were in the nest but it seemed like they were all laying in the same nest but only one hen got broody.

Did the eggs in the house hatch? Or is it too soon yet?

Mine free range but prefer to be fed and I do that once a day. I don't think it is enough to fill them up but maybe that forces them to search for the bugs. Right now I have them penned up because I am wanting to swap eggs with a lady on the Buy-Sell-Trade forum. Penned up means I don't have to search my property for eggs. LOL Sylvia