My hen is not accepting the eggs!

[Prestonsloan12]

Ok, so my hen has been laying her eggs inside one of our empty horse stalls and we had no idea. She decided to go broody and lay on 22 eggs, but there was a problem, we dont have a rooster so all those eggs are infertile. So I bought 20 eggs and put them under her. it has been two days and she has already removed 9 of those eggs. I have not dealt with many broody hens so i have questions. 1. Is this normal? 2. Do i need to keep food and water with her at all times? 3. How many eggs do hens usually set on? thanks for any help!

P.s. she is a rhode island red.

 

[sourland]

20 eggs is probably too many for her to cover. The 11 that she is down to is more likely what she is able to brood effectively. Does she have enough bedding to form a bowl shaped nest? This would help her keep the eggs under control. Have the food and water within relatively easy access, but make sure that she must leave the nest to eat and drink. Frequently when feed and water is provided directly adjacent to the nest, the hen will defecate in the nest which can potentially cause failure of the clutch.

 

[Prestonsloan12]

20 eggs is probably too many for her to cover. The 11 that she is down to is more likely what she is able to brood effectively. Does she have enough bedding to form a bowl shaped nest? This would help her keep the eggs under control. Have the food and water within relatively easy access, but make sure that she must leave the nest to eat and drink. Frequently when feed and water is provided directly adjacent to the nest, the hen will defecate in the nest which can potentially cause failure of the clutch.

thank you so much! i have only had one broody hen before. she was a silkie and only had 5 eggs!

 

[sourland]

Good luck! Hopefully she will have a successful hatch.

 

[Prestonsloan12]

Good luck! Hopefully she will have a successful hatch.

she is down to 7 eggs now! im getting worried!

 

[sourland]

What type of nesting material have you provided her with? How are the eggs 'getting out of' the nest?

 

[Prestonsloan12]

she has a bunch of hay. she isnt in the nestboxs that i have built for them.

 

[sourland]

Try pushing the hay up against her so that she is in a depression that will help to contain the eggs.