Sitting on too many eggs?

[Chloep87]

Hello All

I'm new and I would really appreciate some help here!

I have 6 Chickens (5 Hens, 1 Cockeral). Two of the Hens are broody and both sitting in the same nest box in the coop. All of the other chickens come out of the coop and wonder around the garden until i put them in at night, at about 5pm. The problem i have is all of the hens appear to be laying underneath the two broody hens since friday, i feel this this far too many eggs for them to be sitting on, and if they are fertile then they will surely hatch over a range of about 5 days? Will the broody ones continue to sit on the unhatched eggs after the others have hatched until they are all done?
Should i leave them or take some away and leave some marked ones for them to continue sitting on, or just take them all away? I don't want my two broodies to become exhausted and unwell from sitting on to many eggs.

I could get a new coop made up to put the broody hens and eggs in (not for a few days though) but i worry that moving the eggs will stop the broodies from sitting on them as this happened the last time i attempted to move a broody into a safer place.

Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading

Chloep87

 

[mommom4]

I'm also new but ours just hatched out 3. I marked the date on only 6 eggs and checked each day for an unmarked one and removed it. This is a really wonderful learning experience for us and the grandkids. We have only 4 hens and 3 were sitting and sharing. We put one hen in a modified dog pen set up to keep them safe (with the first 3), and a 2nd hen jumped over me to be in also, so now 2 broodies are in the pen. and... the other one is still sitting on a couple of eggs in the coop. Good luck!

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Oh Boy, ya got a mess on your hands. Idealy broodies should be isolated from the others so that addditional eggs are not added. As you surmise, the newer eggs will not hatch at the same time as the older ones. The hen(s) will leave the nest within a day or two of the first hatchling and the others will die. Also, if they have too many eggs to cover adiquately, eggs will be rotatad out into the cold air and a poor hatch will result.

So, what to do? Isolate the broodies from the others. I would candle the eggs at day seven. The ones that are showing signs of developement are the ones you want to keep and discard all the others. then at day 14, candle again and discard any that aren`t developing. This should give you a viable number to hatch. However, you should prepare a hatcher to maintain any eggs that are left unhatched after the hens and chicks have left the nest. A hatcher is a container, such as a small aquarium, large bowl, or even a bucket that can be covered, heated, and humidity controled for 2-3 days, allowing the eggs to hatch. Complicated? Not too bad. Just keep all this in mind the next time you have a broody. Start her out right with all fresh eggs so they will hatch at the same time. Good luck........Pop

 

[mommom4]

HI, this is mommom4 and ours are doing great. The 4th was just hatched and I moved her in the dog pen with the others. She's already snuggling in. Our eggs are hatching one day at a time. (I wrote to you earlier this AM). Take a deep breath! You'll be fine. We have 2 to go and it's like clockwork now.

 

[Chihuahuamom444]

I have a silkie that is an egg thief, she manages to take other hens eggs and tries to sit on them all, usually what ends up happening is they both sit side by side and lay on them all, I have never checked any, what hatches hatches and what doesnt gets thrown out, surprisingly enough I end up with most hatching, I guess they know what they're doing because they don't leave the nest until they all hatch, one momma or the other, they just Know what eggs are alive and what ones aren't

 

[Chloep87]

Thanks for your help guys!

I think tonight we are going to keep the non broodies in the run (with some makeshift shelter over the top in the form of tarpaulin

) and shut the broodies in the coop with some food and water just to keep them apart for now. I have a giant dog crate i could possibly move the broodies into along with the eggs tomorrow. Friday will be 7 days so i will candle them then and discard any not showing development. One question though, how long can i keep the eggs away from the hens when candling? It shouldnt be any longer than five minutes to remove them from the hens, candle them (in a dark room) then nip them back under them again.

 

[Chihuahuamom444]

Quote:
Ive never taken my broodies out of the coop, they live among the others and its all fine