Hi. I need some newbie advice: Yesterday, I put 12 fertilized Swedish Flower Hen eggs that I bought from a nice lady in SE Texas under my broody cuckoo maran. They are all marked with a dot on the end. She is in a nesting box in my coop @ 3 feet off the ground. There are five other nesting boxes, all with golf balls in them. I have had some trouble with the other chickens climbing into her box to lay, but they didn't do it yesterday after I gave her the eggs.
I have a separate brooding hutch/run adjacent to the main coop and run, but the seller advised against moving the maran to the hutch for fear it could break her broodiness.
So, my question is: How soon after the chicks hatch should I move the maran and chicks to the brooding hutch? Or should I do something else before then (i.e., risk breaking her broodiness and move her now to prevent eggs from getting broken by other chickens laying in the box)? If I wait until the chicks hatch, do I move the maran first, and then the chicks, or vice versa.
Thank you!
P.S. My australorp is broody, too, and I initially put six of the SFH eggs under her. Then, I noticed that she wasn't even sitting on all the eggs; one was in the corner of the box behind her, and one was in front of her. She also doesn't screech when I reach under her, So, I placed the six eggs in front of the maran (to her protesting screech), and after doing a double-take, she quickly beaked them underneath her, adjusted the clutch, and settled over all the eggs. Good move or not?
I have a separate brooding hutch/run adjacent to the main coop and run, but the seller advised against moving the maran to the hutch for fear it could break her broodiness.
So, my question is: How soon after the chicks hatch should I move the maran and chicks to the brooding hutch? Or should I do something else before then (i.e., risk breaking her broodiness and move her now to prevent eggs from getting broken by other chickens laying in the box)? If I wait until the chicks hatch, do I move the maran first, and then the chicks, or vice versa.
Thank you!
P.S. My australorp is broody, too, and I initially put six of the SFH eggs under her. Then, I noticed that she wasn't even sitting on all the eggs; one was in the corner of the box behind her, and one was in front of her. She also doesn't screech when I reach under her, So, I placed the six eggs in front of the maran (to her protesting screech), and after doing a double-take, she quickly beaked them underneath her, adjusted the clutch, and settled over all the eggs. Good move or not?
