overloading the nest with eggs

[BrookCideMurder]

The people want pics, the top are a hen and the chicks she just hatched, and my Rooster. The eggs and other hens are the ones i am writing about and relate to my question.

I will try to be clear and my ultimate goal is to have the hen or hens go broody and hatch the eggs

I have - seperate from the newly hatched chicks and hen
1 cage
1 rooster
6 hens - 4 buffs, 1 silver wyndotte- 2 mixed - the mixed have hatched chicks before they were game birds mixed with a blackstar rooster. and i guess that is more than 6 hens but whatever.

now there are seperate but large boxes, the hens at first would lay together, then start kicking each others eggs around to different piles (when there was about 6 - 9 eggs total).

I made smaller boxes, now there are about 20 eggs in one box (this doesnt take long with six hens all laying in one spot) and a few others that are layed in other boxes.

So i have tried dividing the chickens up differently over the weeks at least 3 of the hens seem to go broody for a day or so, then stop.

WHAT IS THE BEST SET UP FOR MULTIPLE HENS AND A ROOSTER IN ONE CAGED AREA IF YOU WANT BABY CHICKS HATCHED? They are laying a huge pile they will never be able to hatch

IF THE CLUTCH GETS TOO LARGE WHAT WILL HAPPEN AND SHOULD I JUST CLEAR IT OUT OR LET THEM KEEP GOING OR WHAT?

this is the first time i havent just had the rooster with one hen who eventually lays around 12 and hatches around 9. with all the hens together none are sitting on the eggs and there are eggs everywhere, especially in one box. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

 

[junebuggena]

First of all, you can't force a hen to go broody. Leaving eggs in the nest box will not 'trigger' them to go broody. It just means those eggs will go rotten and be wasted. If a hen does go broody, only allow her to hatch what she can keep covered. Mark all the eggs that you want her to hatch, then check daily and remove all the extra eggs that have accumulated (all the ones that aren't marked). This way, they will all hatch within a day or two of each other, and there won't be any abandoned partially developed eggs. If they are only acting broody for a few days at a time, they aren't really full blown broody.

 

[BrookCideMurder]

yeah thanks for the reply i realize my question is not very clear though. I am trying to figure out, how should i divide them up and if it will have any bearing on them goign broody, 1 hen vs 6. I have never had the chickens lay a clutch and not have a hen go broody, but now i have a ton of eggs and none of the hens are going broody.

 

[aart]

yeah thanks for the reply i realize my question is not very clear though. I am trying to figure out, how should i divide them up and if it will have any bearing on them goign broody, 1 hen vs 6. I have never had the chickens lay a clutch and not have a hen go broody, but now i have a ton of eggs and none of the hens are going broody.

If one of your chickens was broody she would already be sitting on some of those eggs.
Just because you leave a clutch does not mean they will sit them.

Not sure what you mean by "I have never had the chickens lay a clutch and not have a hen go broody".
I've never heard of that....how long have you had these 6 (?) chickens?....maybe they are tired of sitting, you can't expect them to hatch out clutch after clutch back to back.

 

[junebuggena]

Most hens will lay in the same nest box every day. Most hens in a flock will all choose the same nest box to lay in, resulting in a pile of eggs if not collected. This is normal behavior and does not indicate that a hen is going broody. You need to collect all of the eggs that are not getting brooded. If you leave all these eggs sitting around, they will spoil. If you let a hen try to hatch every single egg laid in 'her' nest box, she will not be able to keep every egg at the right temperature. It will result in only a few eggs hatching and leave most of the eggs only partially developed. Remove the eggs daily unless one hen is actually displaying broody behavior for at least a week. Then give her a clutch of eggs to hatch, making sure to mark the eggs before leaving them under her. Check her nest at least once a day while the broody is getting her daily drink and remove any unmarked eggs that have been added. This will help ensure that all the eggs hatch within the same time frame.

Edited by Staff