My first broody hen! Need advice.

[Lochloosachicks]

I finally have my first broody hen! I've been wanting one to go broody and now I'm so nervous. I found her sitting on eggs yesterday and she's still there today so I'm assuming this is it. She's about a year and half old golden comet. I'm not sure how many eggs she's sitting on right now, but I put 3 in front of her to see what she would do and she quickly tucked them under her when I walked away. I'm not sure if I should have done that.
My concern is when she hatches them. She shares a coop with 25 other egg layers, 2 roosters and 2 guineas. I'm including a pic of her in the box which is about 12 inches off the floor of the coop and ther small coop I have that I could move her to if she allows it. When she hatches what will the other hens do? I have a small coop that I could put her in I'm just not sure if moving her is a good idea. Should I just let nature take its course?
I would love some advice from some experts!

 

[sylviethecochin]

Mark the eggs she has so that if another hen puts some under her, you can easily identify and remove them before they begin development.

The other hens will almost always ignore the hatching chicks, but if you're worried, wait until day twenty and then just take the hatching eggs and Mum and put them in a closed cardboard box. She'll settle down when she hears her peeping eggs and begin setting properly again, and you can easily transport the box to the new nesting site. You could also do that before the eggs begin to hatch, but it would take more time and care on your part.

 

[cmom]

You better look under her and mark the eggs so you will know if or when she gets off of the nest and if any others are laying in it.

 

[Flockandfowl46]

This is just me but I would just leave her be if she's a good mother she will take care of business and I agree with marking her eggs my broodies have been successfully hatching babies amongs 63 other chickens

 

[cmom]

I had a female that I let her sit on 6 eggs. A day or two later when I looked under her I counted 18 eggs. I put them in the incubator. I neglected to mark the original 6 eggs.

 

[Newchickymama37]

I have a golden comet sitting on eggs now too! She went broody last weekend while we were on vacation. I haven’t even given thought to the fact that others could have been laying in her box. I’m not even sure how many she had to begin with. I’ve just been so worried that if I bother her she will leave the eggs for some reason. I’m worried all the eggs aren’t even fertilized and also that she’s about 4 feet off the ground in her nesting box. Good luck with your and keep us informed!

 

[sylviethecochin]

I have a golden comet sitting on eggs now too! She went broody last weekend while we were on vacation. I haven’t even given thought to the fact that others could have been laying in her box. I’m not even sure how many she had to begin with. I’ve just been so worried that if I bother her she will leave the eggs for some reason. I’m worried all the eggs aren’t even fertilized and also that she’s about 4 feet off the ground in her nesting box. Good luck with your and keep us informed!

If you go in at night and candle the eggs, you might be able to figure out their ages and come up with a plan.

 

[song of joy]

I'd highly recommend isolating the hen from the rest of the flock during incubation, hatching, and for the first week after hatching. This will reduce or eliminate a multitude of potential problems, such as: other hens adding to her clutch, having to remove added eggs daily, egg breakage from multiple hens going in and out of the broody hen's nest box, eggs chilling because the broody hen goes back to a different nest box, and early-hatched chicks falling victim to curious or aggressive flock members while the broody hen is trying to hatch the rest of the clutch.

I've had good success moving broody hens, but I typically wait until they've been broody in a single location for at least 2 or 3 days. Then I move the hen to the desired location at night and offer her fake eggs to set on. She will usually be restless the next day, but eventually will settle down on the fake eggs. After she's been faithfully setting for at least 24 hours on fake eggs, I switch them out for the desired hatching eggs.

Many people will just partition off a small (e.g., 2x3') section of their existing coop for the broody hen, but I prefer using a small, separate coop.

Be sure to set all of the eggs at the same time so you don't have a staggered hatch. Also, don't set more than she can adequately cover. The rule of thumb is not to set any more than a dozen eggs of the size that the hen would lay, although I prefer to go with fewer (e.g., 10).

 

[Lochloosachicks]

I'd highly recommend isolating the hen from the rest of the flock during incubation, hatching, and for the first week after hatching. This will reduce or eliminate a multitude of potential problems, such as: other hens adding to her clutch, having to remove added eggs daily, egg breakage from multiple hens going in and out of the broody hen's nest box, eggs chilling because the broody hen goes back to a different nest box, and early-hatched chicks falling victim to curious or aggressive flock members while the broody hen is trying to hatch the rest of the clutch.

I've had good success moving broody hens, but I typically wait until they've been broody in a single location for at least 2 or 3 days. Then I move the hen to the desired location at night and offer her fake eggs to set on. She will usually be restless the next day, but eventually will settle down on the fake eggs. After she's been faithfully setting for at least 24 hours on fake eggs, I switch them out for the desired hatching eggs.

Many people will just partition off a small (e.g., 2x3') section of their existing coop for the broody hen, but I prefer using a small, separate coop.

Be sure to set all of the eggs at the same time so you don't have a staggered hatch. Also, don't set more than she can adequately cover. The rule of thumb is not to set any more than a dozen eggs of the size that the hen would lay, although I prefer to go with fewer (e.g., 10).

 

[Lochloosachicks]

So when she got up I marked her eggs, but she went back to a different box of eggs later. I'm not sure about fertility either. I got rid of 5 roosters a week ago. How long will the new eggs they lay remain fertile? She's only on three now. I have 3 roosters, 1 silkie, 1 banty, and 1(I think blue andalusian splash) that is just discovering he's a rooster.
I do have a small coop I can move her to, but it's occupied with 4 two weeks old chicks at the moment.
Would you place new eggs in there? I would prefer the chicks have a more confined space when they hatch. Our dogs and cats will leave the big birds alone, but chicks are a little tempting.