My two bantam hens, Pippy & Phoebe, are broody and have been on their nests since 5/13/19. They each laid their own egg & both were fertile, but one died after a week. My leghorns keep laying, though, and one of them is also fertile. It was laid one day after the first two, although by candling, I have observed that it’s developing more slowly than the bantam chick. My question is whether or not I should let one of my bantam hens continue laying on any other leghorn eggs if they also end up to be fertile, or might that be too hard on her? I figure when Pippy’s chick hatches, I’ll put my leghorn’s egg under Phoebe until it hatches and let her raise that chick. If I let her keep laying on the nest, I can slip that egg back under Pippy if I catch it in time before it hatches, or right after hatching so Phoebe can continue incubating. Or would it be better to give Phoebe a break and just wait til she goes broody again? She’ll be a first time Momma since she hatched June 1st of last year. Pippy is a seasoned Momma. She’s 4 years old. Her chick is due to hatch tomorrow!
