Hen Picking on Broody

[catlover8976]

My favourite hen called 'Boots' I've jut discovered has been really naughty as I found today she was almost sitting on my poor bantam broody trying to lay an egg! I promptly removed her and the moment I placed her back down she laid an egg where she stood! She must have been there for a while. After wards she kept on trying to get back to sit on my broody to wich I decided to shut the door and lock her out, she's not very pleased about this I can tell you!
So wat I think she's been doing is laying her eggs under my broody and then eating hers. Because I really think we should have had some chicks by now sadly.

Is there a reason why she did this or how to stop her? Should I let my broody stay for an extended number of days to see if Boots' eggs hatch? What do I do?

 

[lauralou]

This is actually very, very common. It seems to me that all of the hens always want to lay in the broody hen's nest. Not sure if it's because the broody hen has chosen the most popular nest box, or because the other hens just want to get their eggs in there to be incubated. There are two possible solutions. (Maybe more.

) You can have a special place for your broody hens where the other hens can't go, or you can mark the original eggs and remove the new eggs that are laid daily.

As far as the eggs that are under your broody right now, have you tried candling them to see how developed they are? That might give you an idea of what you are dealing with and help you to make a good decision about what to do.

I'm not an expert candler by any means, but if you click on the Search button at the top of the page, you should be able to find some good info on it.

 

[Marie1234]

It is common because it is a genetics survival mechanism. If the offending hen can get her egg in there her genetics will pass on to next generation. It's a good idea to take a pencil and mark eggs that a broody is sitting on for identification in case something like this happens and also to move broody to private area or find a way to lock the rest out.