How long can I add eggs under broody hen??

[suzettex5]

My hen went full-on broody on the first of this month, and had 3 eggs under her. I added 2 more on the 2nd so she has 5 under her now, and all are candling with a small dot and good veining. They look about 3 days developed, for the most part, I'm no expert

My question is, how many days after she started staying on the nest full time do I stop adding eggs? I know I cant ad eggs forever, I know they all need to develope fairly close together- but can I ad eggs the first 3 days, 5 days, how many before the hatch is so staggered she will give up before they all hatch? I only have 2 hens laying reliably right now, (long story) and she was one of them- I'd like to get a few more under her, but I'd rather not ad any more if they are destined for failure.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I always add the eggs I want her to have at one time. I never add extra eggs later. But then I want the broody to raise the chicks.

Chicken eggs take about 21 days to develop and hatch from when incubation starts. Some can be a little early or late, but if the conditions of their incubation are the same, they will all hatch about the same time, at least close enough together that Mama can keep all the early chicks on the nest while the later ones hatch. I don't know what tells a Mama hen that she needs to take the chicks that have hatched off the nest before the die of dehydration or starve to death and leave the unhatched eggs behind (possibly the distress peeping) but if a broody is faced with that decision, she will choose the living chicks.

You may be lucky in that the eggs you added later will be early hatchers and the ones you started with are late developers and not the other way around. That's not the way my luck runs and, with the broody supplying the same heat to all the eggs, they should all develop at about the same pace. Some people are a lot luckier than I often am.

I've never done it, but some people have posted on this forum that they take the chicks away from the broody as they hatch and put them in a brooder. They've managed to keep the broody on the nest to hatch the later eggs this way. If there is not much difference in the age of the chicks, you might be able to get her to accept the first chicks that you took away or you may need to raise them in a brooder.

You may get lucky with the eggs you have already put under her. I'd try to leave them all under her and hope she stays on long enough to hatch them, with just one day difference. Personally, I would not add another egg.

Good luck!!!