? on letting broody keep eggs after consistently taking them

[rojororeo]

I have had several broodies this summer and use a similar method. I found that marking them with a crayon works ok, but keep it handy so you can re-mark as it wears off. I like to mark with the date, and a line around the entire egg so it is easy to see without turning. When you lift her to check for more eggs, feel between her wings and body first because she could be holding an egg there. After about the 14th day, it is a good idea to move her into another area (a dog crate should be just fine as long as it can be kept clean and dry). If you wait too long, a hatching chick is easily crushed by other laying hens (I learned this the hard way). They might even eat the baby!

Have fun with your chicks. I have many "mutt" chickens. Their markings can be surprising!

I hadn't thought of the continuous line. That is a good idea. I don't want to go past the 6 eggs I let them keep, so don't need to worry about dating, as long as I can keep track of these 6, of course. But will line them better this evening. I used a china marker- an oil based crayon.
And I will be sure to check under wings better, I didn't think of there! After I was done marking, I did stick them back in that general area though, funnily enough. Mostly due to being afraid of getting pecked. Because we all know I will die if I get pecked. hehe I am such a wuss with chickens.
I think then I will move them like you say. It is a huge mastiff sized dog crate. I should be able to put both broodies in there, using squared cat litter buckets as nests, right? Both buckets fit with no problems, along with food and water.

I had this same problem and ended up giving away my polish, poor things always had bloody heads even when I put them with only polish.

Yes, the rooster ended up with me for that reason as well. Then later the hen from the same family because he had too many chicken mouths to feed. Poor polish rooster got his butt handed to him by the giant regular rooster they had.
I tried to separate the Polish couple to let their crests grow back, even though they weren't always bloody. The dang hen pecked the roosters head, so I put her back in the general population. Then I caught the rooster sticking his head through the fence to get his head pecked. I gave up then. Both do okay, and are just spiked heads of baldness, not bloody too often.
I won't own funky birds after this, but considering that 10 of my 15 birds were given to me free right before lay, I can't complain if only 2 are funky. And the other 5 came with my coop I bought second hand, which was worth much more than I paid for it, so they were sorta free too! lol

 

[rojororeo]

Just wanted to give a mini-update.
The better broody is doing wonderful. She is taking such good care of her eggs that the lines I drew around them with a china marker all rubbed off within a few days. The other broody seems to be rather dumb as she doesn't care what nest she is on, or if there are even eggs under her. So I took her eggs and gave them to the good broody. She hardly gets up, so the only chicken who manages to get any eggs added to her clutch is the Polish, who just doesn't take no for an answer and climbs in with her.
The good broody is doing great with letting me lift her up to check for new eggs under her. She doesn't get up or anything. She just puffs up and stares me down. She lets me pet her a bit while nesting as well.
I accidently took one of the brooding eggs (see previous comment that she rubbed the lines off, hehe). I didn't want to put it back after having had it for a couple of days, and the possibility of it being rotten then. So I cracked it open- it was of course fertile with a little baby chick. Oh well.
Once I put the good broody and her nest of eggs into the dog crate, how long do I leave them in there? There will be a bit of room to move around, but not a ton. It is a mastiff sized crate. I can get in it semi-comfortably and I am 5-5, 120lbs, for reference.

Anyhoo, thanks again for the help!

 

[rojororeo]

3 are hatching right now!! Woohoo!
I just got the dog crate up finally last night and was putting her in it this morning. we candled the eggs last night, saw 3 of 4 were definitely going to hatch, but I was unsure of #4, so I put it back until I could do more research. I go get them this morning to candle in the house in the dark bathroom.... walking in to get the flashlight, can't figure out why I hear bird chirps when no windows are open.... realize they ae baby chirps.. wait what?! I look down in my basket, 3 of my 4 eggs are pipping!
Crud!! So I ran them back out and put them in the nest in the dog crate and grabbed momma and parked her on them again.
If she stays with this clutch, she will be worth her weight in gold, all the moving and pestering she has had to put up with!
Fairly certain #4 is a dead in progression type of egg, so I need to go pester her again to get it back... poor girl.

Anyhoo! Thanks everyone for the help! Fingers crossed they aren't too traumatized by my overly rough handling!