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- #11
Certainly by what was, in fact, not a very big hen. I seriously don't know how she was physically capable of covering and keeping warm, that amount of eggs. I did wonder if the warmth from the deep litter she had burrowed into, helped the matter. Normally if a hen tries to cover too many eggs, the ones on the outside get chilled and then when she moves them, new ones move to the outside and get chilled too. I wonder if the deep litter just stopped the chill factor.
Incidentally, there were two dead in shell in that nest afterwards, both had pipped but got no further, so she actually brought 18 eggs to full term!!!!
She clearly did find it quite tricky to cope with them all, after hatch, though as she allowed my white cochin, who had been broody on and off for several weeks, to 'co-rear' them with her. She wouldn't allow the cochin to take any away but was happy to allow her to show them food sources and huddle under her for a cuddle. The two girls would share a nest area, side by side, and take in whichever chicks chose them.
