How many eggs in a mandarin clutch?

[tonini3059]

My mandarin hen has been laying and laying and laying. As of today there were eleven eggs in the nest box and was not sure if there should be that many or if perhaps that another hen is laying in there also. I am worried that she will not be able to set all those eggs. She has started to pull feathers so I would think she should be setting here soon but was not sure if I should take some off of her or not.

 

[waterdog]

10-12 eggs is about the average we have had a woodie sit on about 15 eggs before with pretty good results but anymore and the hatch rate will greatly decrease. You should notice some down in the nest when she is about ready to start sitting. I wouldn't leave her more than 12-13.

 

[tonini3059]

I am surprised that they could actually sit on that many eggs and still have good hatches, it just seems as though the eggs take up more space than her body can cover. There is already a lot of down in the nest already so I figured she should be getting ready to set, so it should only be 11 or 12 eggs. Thanks for the info.