One of my young Red Comets got broody three days ago. After a bit of trouble I finally got her in a little coop of her own with seven eggs. The coop is a little A frame with an enclosed area, I bought it from Amazon. She seems to need the wired part covered to help her focus. Anyway, I peeked at her this morning and one of the eggs is a little exposed. She's a big hen and I thought she could cover seven eggs. I'm afraid to mess with her anymore, she's a bit temperamental. Should I just leave her be?
I’m not sure where you are or what your temperatures are like. In hot weather broody hens often let the eggs cool a bit to keep them from getting too hot. She will regulate the temperature. Hens and eggs come in different sizes. I don’t know how big your comet is or how big the eggs are, but if they are close to the size she normally lays she should be able to handle seven. I’ve seen hens cover 15 eggs that size that they lay, I’ve seen some that can only handle ten. Seven sure sounds reasonable. If she is consistently not covering all of them, you can remove one. But in general I try to let them be. Broodies like to think their nest is hidden. I find keeping it dark often helps them calm down.
