My First Broody!

[Perris]

thanks for the photo; that's generously sized nesting boxes you have there, so if they were mine, I'd be inclined to leave them alone. If your broody/ies behave like mine have, they get more protective as time goes on, and especially when they get cues from the developing eggs that babies are coming (movement, even cheeps near the end of incubation).
Looking ahead, be aware that the chicks will not be able to get back up once they hatch (I wouldn't worry about them falling out or getting down; they weigh very little and are quite rubbery) so you might think about where to prepare a nesting area on the floor.

 

[Brady bunch]

Tiny Sterling top left, the Brooding Raven in favorite nesting spot, and Beetle hopped in to visit as I was taking pic.
Sterling didn't leave her spot all day again, looking more and more like 2 broodies.

You have very pretty hens.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

I couldn't help it. I candled.

(And realistically, everyone laying in those 2 boxes means a lot of extra eggs in them, that these bantams cannot incubate. Better to be selective, no?)

Sterling has 1 egg with a little heartbeat.
Raven has TWO!

 

[Perris]

that's great news! you have marked them so you know which not to remove, yes?

 

[DellaMyDarling]

I'm apparently too quick to cull eggs from nest.
I marked the ones I took from nest and brought in house...

Son tells me he made himself a fried egg that had blood vessels.

 

[50-45-1]

If you can find the right enclosure, i highley recomend you move your broody and her eggs to a hutch or covered dog crate where she can do this without constant distraction and intiferance. It needs to be dark and quiet. With enough room that she can leave the nest and eat, drink and deficate one a day.
There are multiple problems that can arise when a broody is hatching in he coop with the general population.
One you have discovered already, fresh eggs laid daily and mixed with hatching eggs. Marks ware off and hatching eggs are in refrigerator. The other hens fighting with her to lay their egg in the favorite spot often results in broken eggs. Also a hen can switch to a different spot with eggs because someone else is on her eggs, resulting in hatching eggs getting chilled and dying.
This constant bothering of her can break her up half way though the process.
Then lets say she successfully does hatch chicks and one falls out of the top row in your picture. It can chill and die during the night or day. Also its not uncommon for other hens to kill and eat strange chicks not protected by their mother.
All this stuff is pretty heartbreaking and i have encountered it all.
Also i Never candle my hatching eggs. The incubation process does not need it. Your hen can do the job without it, and again it is an unnecessary
She should have 3 weeks undisturbed ot incubate her chicks.
She should have 2 more weeks in a hutch or other secuded spot to rear the chicks to feathering.
Move her after dark with a dim flashlight.
This is the best formula i have discovered and yields me the most successful hatches.
This a hutch i built from reclaimed materials for my broody hutches.

 

[ValerieJ]

Ditto on everything 50-45-1 said, especially this:

Also i Never candle my hatching eggs. The incubation process does not need it. Your hen can do the job without it, and again it is an unnecessary

I don't risk any eggs with my handling if I have a hen doing it. She knows better than me what is viable and what is not. My broody would just push out the bad eggs. then I would know. The only time I would consider checking out the eggs is if there is a smell coming from the nest. That would be an indication of a bad egg. But that didn't happen with my broody. She pushed the bad egg out long before that.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

Oh no

Discovered no Raven on the nest and ice cold eggs.
I pulled some fresh eggs and moved Ravens developing eggs to Sterling's warm nest. She might be on too many though, I might need to take a few more.

Chances of cold eggs continuing development? I wasn't sure so I took chance for now. They're marked and I could remove them tomorrow if you think they're dead

 

[Lizzy733]

My silkie was very handling friendly when it came to brooding - in fact, if I did not kick her off the nest, she would not go to the loo or stretch at all - I found this out on 'lockdown' day.
I left her to brood in the nesting box and erected a wire panel fence to split her from the main group and provided her own water, feeder and stretching area for the duration.
Sitting longer than 3 weeks is really draining - especially when they aren't getting up to fend for themselves - you may need to make sure she's eating, drinking and exercising regularly.
I've not tried moving my nest, but it's hard to break a silkie - at least my one.
Do remember, eggs won't 'start' until the mom is sitting and they can be 'stored' for up to one week at room temperature if they are also being turned daily (egg crate and alternate propping one side up a bit). Once you've collected a good 'clutch', you can swap from fake 'placeholder' eggs to the fertile ones. They will all hatch out together despite the difference in laying time.
I think for silkies, they can fit around a dozen of their own eggs - maybe as many as 9 regular sized, if she's a good pancake. I didn't think it was possible for mine to cover that many, but found just that when I came back from break and she'd collected the 9 my big girls had laid and was sitting them along with her 3 chicks.

 

[Lizzy733]

Oh no

Discovered no Raven on the nest and ice cold eggs.
I pulled some fresh eggs and moved Ravens developing eggs to Sterling's warm nest. She might be on too many though, I might need to take a few more.

Chances of cold eggs continuing development? I wasn't sure so I took chance for now. They're marked and I could remove them tomorrow if you think they're dead

They can get pretty chilled and still be ok - we lost one of our eggs and my broody ended up kicking the whole lot - it was early spring and 'cold'. They got chilled to the touch, but still survived. Just candle them and keep them going, though if the other broody is already sitting eggs, the further along ones hatching will likely break her brood and possibly ruin the clutch she's sitting.