STAGGERED HATCH UNDER TWO DIFFERENT HENS

[crazychick52]

Thanks for all the input!! I will have to make some accommodations!

 

[lazy gardener]

I have two hens that are laying on approximately 10 eggs each in a nesting box. They were laid by different hens in the flock and they were all days apart from each other. The two hens have been sitting on them loyally. I went out and candled them tonight and it looks like 5-6 are going to hatch any minute. The others look like they are developing they are days behind. Once the eggs hatch do I just leave the babies in the nesting box with the hen? They are up in the air...how will the babies get food and water? Could I put all the babies under one hen and let the other hen lay on all the eggs? Also, should I remove the eggs that look like duds or leave them in the nesting box? I need help ~ I obviously don't know what I am doing...

If there is a lip that is more than 1.5 inch high at the front of the box you can leave them . Although is is not good to move eggs in the last few days before hatch if you don't have the ready to hatch under 1 hen and the less ready under the other they will probably get off whatever eggs are left 2-3 days after first hatch for each of them.

If there are no lips on the front of the nests I would put the ready eggs and whichever hen has been sitting longest on the floor somewhere.

Either way you will need a nest at or near ground level with a bit of a ramp for the hens and chicks to live in for the first few weeks.

As Ruby said, Mamas are able to get their babies down. You could put a bale of hay, or even several flakes of hay in front of the nest box for a softer landing. And as SJT says, you might benefit from moving all of the "gonna hatch right away" eggs under one Mama, and put the "not just yet" eggs under the other Mama. In the excitement of the hatch, Mama #2 may abandon her nest to help with the first hatchlings. So, no matter what you do, they will have their own game plan. If you are wanting to increase your flock size, you could get an incubator, and finish off any late entries with that, but then you'll have to complete the brooding process on your own, without Mama broody help. You might want to read up on the Mama heating pad brooder in that case. I wish you the best.

 

[WVduckchick]

@crazychick52 any update?

 

[crazychick52]

There is a big lip 1.5 inches high on the nesting box - it is just so high up and one chick has hatched and she is still sitting on the other eggs...I did move eggs that are furthest along to the momma that just hatched the egg and the others are with the other chicken which should take longer. I am just worried about how momma and baby are going to get out of the box because it is high up. I was thinking after the other eggs hatch maybe I could move them to ground level? I guess if she quits sitting on the eggs I could move them to the other chicken?

 

[sjturner79]

There is a big lip 1.5 inches high on the nesting box - it is just so high up and one chick has hatched and she is still sitting on the other eggs...I did move eggs that are furthest along to the momma that just hatched the egg and the others are with the other chicken which should take longer.  I am just worried about how momma and baby are going to get out of the box because it is high up.  I was thinking after the other eggs hatch maybe I could move them to ground level? I guess if she quits sitting on the eggs I could move them to the other chicken?

The only reason you need the lip is sometimes the first chick out will fall out while still wet. They are quite capable of a 1.5 m (5ft) drop once they are a day old.
Once hatching starts leave them alone until the hen gets down out of the nest.
At that point you can put any un hatched eggs under the other hen though it is unlikely that they would hatch.
It is also the time to move any chicks that didn't follow the hen down to ground level.
Make sure you have a safe place for them to brood under the hen for the following few weeks.

 

[jak2002003]

Don't worry about them falling down... some of my bantam chickens nest over 5 feet high up and the chicks just jump to the ground.

They are very light and covered in the chick down.. which cushions their fall. You can put some leaves, hay or sand under the nest box if you are really worried.

How is everything going now?

My bantams always share nests and eggs are hatching at different times. They have always sorted themselves out with no losses.

Once I even had 3 hens brooding a huge pile of eggs in one nest box.. The hens could hardly all fit in.. but they did a great job.. and the hens stayed in top condition as they were able to spend longer time off the nest to feed, dust bath and just relax as there was always at least on other hen on egg brooding duty.

They seemed to know which were their own chicks... and would wait for their lot to hatch. Once on the ground they all looked after the chicks together.

I used to stress like you when this first happened... but I learned the more I moved eggs about or interfered the more the hens got mixed up and stressed.. so now I just leave them to it.

The only thing I do is put a small pot of chick starter and a water cup hooded inside the nest box.. so early hatched chicks have something to eat and drink if they are waiting in their for several days before the late ones hatch.

good luck with your new chicks!!!

 

[centrarchid]

Setup up a second nest, possibly on the floor and at least 5 feet away from current nest. Transfer near hatching eggs and hatchings to new nest leaving other hen with less developed eggs / embryos. Second hen hopefully will remain with location while hen moved will have imprinting process coming with two-way communication with older embryos / hatchlings to keep her in the new location. Once I have a clutch where chicks make sounds within egg, I can move the nest without issue and keep hen with nest and brood. Attempting to move nest prior to that can result in hen trying to go back to original nest location and thus abandoning the moved nest / clutch.

 

[sjturner79]

Setup up a second nest, possibly on the floor and at least 5 feet away from current nest. Transfer near hatching eggs and hatchings to new nest leaving other hen with less developed eggs / embryos. Second hen hopefully will remain with location while hen moved will have imprinting process coming with two-way communication with older embryos / hatchlings to keep her in the new location. Once I have a clutch where chicks make sounds within egg, I can move the nest without issue and keep hen with nest and brood. Attempting to move nest prior to that can result in hen trying to go back to original nest location and thus abandoning the moved nest / clutch.

The problem with moving nest at that stage is that is the only point in the process that the eggs must stay warm. You have a good chance of killing many of them and thier is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving right where they are until the mama gets the first chicks out of the nest.

 

[centrarchid]

The problem with moving nest at that stage is that is the only point in the process that the eggs must stay warm. You have a good chance of killing many of them and thier is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving right where they are until the mama gets the first chicks out of the nest.

I am speaking from considerable experience on this where goal was to prevent formation of broods led by two hens. Considerable detail went into explaining how hen moved with more advanced embryos would stay with them and prevent cooling.