How many eggs with a pullet collect before setting?

[costello]

I have a fairly young EE pullet (hatched in late August 2013) who 'stopped laying.' I accidently stumbled across her stash of eggs when looking for a missing hen. The pile of eggs has been growing steadily. She's now up to 9 eggs. They're arranged in a little nest. I'm hoping she going to go broody and hatch some chicks. How many eggs is she likely to accumulate before she goes broody? Any idea?

 

[Judy]

There's no way to predict -- but they can and do lay a whole lot more than they can cover or hatch. I once found a hen on about 25 eggs, and she was a small hen. Actually I think that's fairly typical when people have not interfered. Maybe that's nature's way of trying to ensure that at least a few chicks result from a setting.