Sitting hens

[bt03]

I have 2 hens that are broody right now and I have a few questions about them. The first hen is Momma hen. She is a year old and refused to break so I gave in a gave her 4 LF eggs to sit on. The second hen is the only baby from her first hatch to wants to sit. I know Big Momma will hatch the eggs out and take good care of the babies but I am worried about Little Momma. Her sisters tried but lost interest within a day so I didn't give Little Momma any real eggs to sit on, she has be sitting on our fake nest box egg. Now that she is an avid and determined sitter I'm still afraid to give her any eggs and she is a week behind Big Momma now and in the next box. To add to it all we really don't want any more chicks or chickens right now that is why Big only got 4 eggs.

Would it be ok to take 2 of the eggs from Big and give them to Little?
Could I give them back to Big if Little doesn't do a good job with chicks?
Would Big or Little kill each others chicks?
Will they try to raise all the chicks together?
Should I just give Little a couple of eggs of her own?

i'm not sure what the best course of action is and just need a bit of help figuring the business of broody. Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Gypsy07]

I've only ever had one broody hen hatch out one lot of chicks, just about a week ago, so I'm not sure, but I think you could split the eggs between the two of them. If you're worried big Momma might notice the missing eggs, you could hard boil a couple of eating eggs then swap them over at night. Just remember to mark the dummies so you know which is which! As to how well the younger one will take care of any chicks, and whether they will attack each other chicks, I think it depends a lot on the temperaments of the individual birds and a little bit on the kind of environment they're kept in. As in, you could probably minimise the risk, but not remove it altogether unless you separate the two birds from each other and from the rest of your flock...

 

[Stoney22]

I think alot of hens go broody together as far as im concerned. Its more adult eyes to watch youngsters and ice from visually seeing broody hens they want to focus on raising young not possibly losing them fighting or not paying full attention on theirs just to attack someone elses

 

[Tiss]

Someone gave me some good advice once....chickens can't count.

I'd give little mama 2 of the eggs. If she's slacking at sitting, give them back to Big Momma. I have 2 hens with chicks right now and they don't bother each others babies.

Good luck!

 

[sourland]

Yes
yes
Maybe, but not likely
Maybe
Why? You really don't want more chicks, and what would you do with the eggs if she breaks?

Enjoy your broodies, and good luck with your hatch.

 

[bt03]

Thanks for the advice! I will take two of Big's eggs tonight and Sneak them under Little. I tried not letting Big Momma have eggs but nothing I tried would break her and Little just decided to join the party

Lucky for my the brooder box was built for LF and not bantam so it's massive & I can put a divider in the middle and let them both do their thing if they don't get along. Now let's hope they are the the only ones that want to be broody in this heat!

 

[bt03]

We have an external pip!!!

I haven't been home for a hatch yet (this is our 3rd)

Now I have 2 very worried hens and a dog that is whining because it can hear the peeping and it wants to see the new baby and a daughter that has literally set up her room outside to watch the hatch. And my last duck from my original 4 started laying and is thinking about sitting to

This is exciting so I'm going outside to watch