Number of eggs under broody hen increasing? what gives?

[maymay8]

Hi there - my hen, juniper, a bantam silkie/cochin cross is broody for her first time. She is on day 7 of sitting on what I thought was only 6 eggs. But when she got out this a.m. for her daily drink/walk/dusting i peeked in and saw 9 eggs. I don't know if she laid some more eggs or if one of our other hens added to her pile. They all sleep and lay together where Juniper decided she wanted to go broody. Is this a problem? What if the number eggs increasing just keeps going and going and going? Juniper can't sit on eggs forever can she? As of now, she'll have to sit for about 30 days for all the eggs to hatch.

Do I need to be concerned about this? If so, what should I do?

I don't think I'll be successful in moving the other chickens (3 of them, one roo and 2 hens) to another coop area, but I can try that. Also thought about marking the eggs she has now, but I don't want to lift her and disturb her lest she abandoned her clutch. Please help.

Thanks,
Maggie

 

[cluckychick]

You need to put a mark on the eggs you want her to sit on to identify them and then remove all the extras every day. Broody hens will steal eggs from the other hens and other hens will also lay eggs in her nest. I always seperate my broody from the flock when she is sitting on eggs. Hope this helps

 

[Pumpkinpup]

The other hens are "laying to her". If you don't mark the ones you want her to set and remove the extras every day the nest will overflow!!!

 

[rubyv67]

I don't have chicken experience(that's why I'm addicted to this site) But I did raise parakeets and cockateils the mama would lay everday or two, and if disturbed not for up to 4 days apart. I was worried also, but she very patiently hatched her whole clutch. She did get tired as time went on. But they feed their babies. Chickies are self sufficient. I always end up experimenting with my animals and have sheer dumb luck. I do pray alot if that helps. Good luck, I hope someone more experienced can help.

 

[maymay8]

Cluckychick - how do you separate you broody? Where do you put her? It is getting cold here, so I thought about bringing her inside in a week or two. Is that a bad idea?
When marking the eggs, do I just lift her off the nest for a few minutes? She'll go back on?
Thanks for the quick advice!

 

[Marlinchaser]

Mark the ones you have, other than a few pecks(ok sometimes it includes puncture wounds) you can look under the broody, and she will go back to sitting. I would worry about her not staying with the new eggs till the end? Mine have always seemed to give up on the unhatched after the chicks are a couple of days old she turns her attention to teaching the chicks the ways of the world and stops worrying about keeping the eggs warm.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

This is how i got my incubator almost full. I had 4 broody hens sitting on eggs. I would go to the barn and watch the clutch grow and grow. Yep, when the brooders got off the nest for a drink or a snack, the other hens would promptly place one of their eggs in the pile. It got to the point where each hen had about 10 to 12 eggs each.

The wife told me to get those broody hens off the nest and put the eggs that they were sitting on in the incubator. Well, I did what she said, but I waited a few days. Now of course I have the ladies off the eggs and out of the laying boxes.

The wife come in to the room last night and looked into the incubator. "How the heck did you get all those eggs from the brood hens ? You been collecting and put them in ?" No, darling was my response. with a shrug of my shoulders. I got a really dirty look and something about how sick I am and I need some real professsional help. As she was leaving the house and going to town i asked her if she would get some more chick starter. It was the wrong question I guess.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
I marked ( dated ) a certain amount of eggs for my broodies to sit on . I removed her , the nest and all her eggs and put her in a cage . Just make sure she has food and water close by . I have a 6 ft. cage especially for broody hens . I never leave them in the coop where other hens can lay on her nest . KEYWORD is HER NEST , her eggs .... 21 days later I had beautiful chicks . ALL healthy

They do not like being distrupted . Her private time

Had 1st. eggs hatched on Aug. 25th. and anothe r broody hatched on Oct. 4th. I decided NO MORE hatching for me . #1 . takes to long to get them to safe age to mix with full flock . #2. to many different kinds of feed to go thru before that can be given laying pellets .
# 3. So much easier , if you are raising for EGG production , easier to buy pullets closer to laying age . ALSO , you usually find out , ALOT are roosters ( which you do not need ) .

When we 1st. started in the chicken world , we bought ( 30 ) 1 week old chicks . RIR'S , black Austrolorps , and barred rocks ... That was back in April ( 2008 ) and they are JUST staying to show signs right NOW of wanting the lay . THEN days are shorter now , and winter is moving in . So , WHO knows if it might just be SPRING TIME before we are blessed with eggs from them . THANK GOD we have older hens that DO LAY right now .

Regardless , its expensive to feed them for 4 - 7 months and HOPE they lay soon .