Sooo many brooding hens

[goats-n-oats]

Hi, two questions- maybe 15 of my hens in a flock of 130 have gone broody. The eggs that were laid in the last few weeks had paper thin eggshells. (I gave them vitamin d, they already have calcium, this seemed to fix half of the eggs.) Should these eggs that are being sat on all be tossed? Second question, what to do with 100-150 chicks???

 

[Australorpfamily]

I'd you don't want the chicks, try to break the broodies?

 

[NatJ]

Should these eggs that are being sat on all be tossed?

I don't quite understand what you are asking.

If the eggs are developing, but you do not want chicks, then definitely take away the eggs. You can cook them to feed to chickens or dogs, rather than throwing them in the garbage, but most people will not want to eat them.

The eggs that were laid in the last few weeks had paper thin eggshells.

If this is the reason to maybe toss the eggs, I can't say for sure. Eggs with thin shells might develop and hatch just fine, or they may break and have the chicks die. Whether to let them continue will come down to your tolerance for risk, plus considerations of how many chicks you might want to have.

If you want chicks but do not trust the shells on those eggs, then maybe collect some eggs with good shells, and put them under the hens instead of the ones with thin shells.

maybe 15 of my hens in a flock of 130 have gone broody... what to do with 100-150 chicks???

For future, think about how many chicks you want, before you let the hens have any eggs.

If you collect every egg, every day, you can always eat the eggs. It does not matter if a broody hen is sitting on the nest or not, the egg will not develop enough in one day to matter.

What I would do with that many chicks: raise females as layers and butcher males for meat, starting to butcher small ones as soon as I could identify that they are males. And/or try to sell chicks, starting immediately, and continuing to offer the chicks with updated descriptions until they are gone or I butcher them myself. (Updated descriptions: things like pullet/cockerel when they get old enough to sex, price increases when they are known to be female, and another price increase as pullets reach point of lay.)