Poor Beatrice!

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Beatrice, one of my golden laced cochins has been broody for almost a week now...so last Saturday, I gave her three eggs to sit on--one BBS Orp & two mille cochin eggs. She was SSOOO happy! So last night, I went out to candle. The two milles were clear, so I chucked them. The BBS Orp is developing nicely. But then I then I thought I felt another egg.

I lifted her up & found EIGHT MORE BBS ORP EGGS!! And I couldn't figure out why their egg production had seemingly stopped! They have been jumping in their, laying their eggs & she takes them!

 

[debilorrah]

Doesn't it make you wonder how they manage to get all those eggs into one spot?? My broody is doing the same thing.

 

[Lollipop]

That`s why you should always seperate a broody hen. Now you don`t know the age of most of the eggs and they will all hatch on a different day, or not at all. Have fun deciding what to do about that. Best thing maybe is to fire up an incubator and after the first 2 days of the hatch, move the remaining eggs to the bator as the hen will leave the nest on the second or third day with any hatched chicks and only return at night. Chicks hatched after the second day won`t be strong enough to keep up and won`t make it. Any unhatched eggs after the second day don`t have a chance unless you use the bator.

 

[PortageGirl]

Oh bah humbug, lollipop!!

how'd hens ever manage before we started bugging them???

This is an easy one, yeah, some won't hatch, but if she sticks on em well, most will even if they're a few days apart.

Mark all she's got now with a pencil or a marker with a date, so you know what is what, and from now on, just gather any extra that aren't marked.

Anytime you let a hen set, always mark the ones you give her, maybe even let her keep a couple after that, and then take everything after day 3 or so. Those could be hers or anyone elses, and then hope for the best. *pat pat pat* It'll be ok. [edit] or not! but it's all a wonderful gamble anyway!!!

[edit] I'm not trying to be mean lollipop! I understand what you're saying, but hey, what's done is done, and she might as well ride it out now! I have let my hens handle the hatching for years, I even had two hens that were co-mama's they traded brooding duty and shared motherhood, you'd think them chicks'd be confused, but they just ran from one feathery skirt to another and the two Wylde-sisters used to just mother em all equally!!

 

[Ellie]

How 'bout those silly broody GL cochin girls we have, eh? Good luck with however you decide to deal with the egg stra eggs!

 

[debilorrah]

I'm leavin my hen right where she is - it's where she wants to be. She's got 4 eggs under her now and probably can't fit more - she ony weight 10 ounces. That lil terror can hold her own!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Oh I fed the others to the dogs.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Yeah, the three eggs she started out with were marked with the date I gave them to her. Two ended up being clear.

So now she's just on one BBS Orp egg. I am going to take it away next week and let it hatch in an incubator. It's far too cold and I'm just not set up for chicks outside during winter.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Yeah, Clementine shows no interest in being broody--but Beatrice! She's very determined! LOL I found some good broody hen mini-coop designs that I keep shoving at my husband...so I'm thinking this late spring, that will be added to my project list!