How many is too many?

[shelleyd2008]

My dad is of the belief that you put as many eggs under a hen that will fit. Well, me being too dumb to listen to myself, about NOT listening to his advice, put 15 eggs under a medium sized hen. She just hatched, and she only hatched 6. 6 didn't have anything in them, and the other 3 are in the bator, hopefully going to. So I was wondering, what is a good number of eggs to set under small or medium hens?

 

[ibpboo]

Only about as many as she can keep covered and warm at all times. Not sure of the exact number but I would guess 6-8 maybe. Depends on how big the hen is.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Yeah that's what he says. I just wondered if the ones that didn't develop might be because she couldn't turn them right?

 

[ibpboo]

Are you sure they were all fertile? I sure wish you good luck with the ones that are in the bator. I once had too many eggs under a hen, and it was so sad. One of the eggs had a developed chick, but died from getting cold. And the saddest part was it was going to be an EE from the rooster that I had for a short while until it went to a new home, I still have the EE hen. The hen I have that likes to go broody will lay about 6 eggs, then start sitting, but the eggs are not fertile. A smaller hen, I would try about or 5 eggs maybe.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The light that i use is not strong enough, but I have not had that many unfertile eggs at one time yet. There were 5 empty, and one had a blood ring in it. The only hen that I consistently get unfertile eggs from is my cochin (supposedly bantam). I am not sure if that is because she is a lot bigger than my dutch roo, or if it is just her. But no, I'm not positive they were all fertile.

 

[ibpboo]

I have never candled an egg, so I am not sure I know how. How old are the 6 that hatched? Was that today? Congratulations on those! Are they different breeds?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
The first is 2 days I think, and the last one hatched yesterday. They weren't supposed to hatch til today, and I had another hen that was laying in the same nest for a little while, so that's why I'm givving them the benefit of the doubt.
Unfortunately they are all mixed breeds, and all mixed up as well. I think the next time the hens start laying, I will keep each hens eggs separated, so I know who's is who's. This one's hatch was mostly her own eggs though. Daddy is a blue splash dutch, and mama is supposedly an Egyptian hen. Not sure about that though. She looks just like one I saw on Google, but she looks like she is kinda big. But all 11 that she has are between 1 and 3 days old. She had hatched 3 as of yesterday mornign, and today had 6.

 

[SGM]

I had an itty bitty Sebright hen sit on 8 and hatched 7. So I think it depends very much on what she can confortably cover and the size of the eggs.