Hen weirdness and confusion

[Razadia]

1. My hens have been acting strangely for the past month. It started with my two oldest and very violent hens nesting together in the same box. With no problems with the other being there.

Now they're mothering over 9 chicks together. Still not going after each other. Now they sleep in the same box at night with the chicks. I don't get what's going on with them. I'm still cringing at the thought that I'm going to lose one of them because these two are sisters and have NEVER gotten along.

2. Has to do with the first. My two other hens have been laying in the same box, which just happens to be the same one that my older hens are sleeping in with the chicks. The other night I pulled a crushed newly hatched chick from under the hens. I hate burring my chicks. At first I thought that one of the 9 chicks had died, but the next morning when I told my dad that I had to bury a chick he looked at me funny and said that all 9 were still there. I thought I was losing my mind, but when I went into the pen to see if I had lost it sometime during the night (I'm a night owl and I keep an eye on the chickens at night) I found the crushed fuzzy in the same spot I had put it to bury it today. My chicks have their pin feathers and the dead one didn't. I finally realized that they were incubating the eggs that where in the box.

I had to rescue the only two eggs that were fertile and have little chicks kicking in them. I just hope my messed up version of an incubator works. How do I stop the hens from laying there (moving the eggs doesn't work) or how do I keep the older hens from sleeping there at night?

I've been raising chickens most of my life and I've never had to deal with this before.

HELP!

 

[Sorin]

Ok, lets see if i have this straight, 2 hens are raising 9 chicks together. They both sleep in the same nest box with these 9 chicks at night. Then during the day, the other two hens go in this very same nest box and lay their eggs without you knowing. Then the original 2 hens go in that nest box at night with the chicks and are inadvertently incubating them. If this is right then I'm assuming that the two hens raising the chicks take the chicks out during the day. Any reason you couldn't block that nest box off once they are gone so the other hens are forced to use another nest box? Then once they have layer their eggs open it back up for the mothers and hens. If this is the case, I'm wondering how they are incubating the eggs while only sitting on them at night, hmmm... Well, hope this helps.Good Luck!