Take all the eggs?

[K0k0shka]

Oh that’s a good idea about the marking. We had left her 2 eggs to hatch and now she has 7 and now I have a feeling the others might have laid some eggs in there.

In that case you’re having a staggered hatch. Those are tricky and often fail, as hens don’t always wait for late chicks to hatch, especially if they are more than a couple days apart. She may abandon the later additions before they hatch, or not accept them after they hatch. Do you know how to candle eggs? How far along are they? (Since you gave her the first two). Are you planning on letting her hatch and keep all of them? If it’s been more than a week, you can candle and see which ones are the most developed. Those will be the oldest. Mark them. I would recommend discarding the rest, but you need to decide if you want to keep all of them. Be prepared to hand-raise any rejects if you decide to keep them all (have a brooder set up and ready).

 

[K0k0shka]

P.S. You don’t have to separate the hen. Hatching and raising with the flock is a good way to have the chicks automatically integrated without having to do any of the work yourself. The hen will introduce them to the flock. You can temporarily block off her nest after lockdown, so the others don’t trample the chicks if she’s not protective enough to keep them out. Until then, just keep collecting any new, unmarked eggs.

 

[Ecalix]

That's what happens and since you have a rooster the eggs are fertile and you don't want them to start developing and then crack them open. I think most people separate the hens they are going to let incubate and/or as mentioned clearly mark them.

But hens like the same boxes- and they see eggs and want to lay there because another hen survived there lol... so they'll just keep piling them on top until you get them all out of there.

I didn’t realize they did that. I thought once one claimed it that was it. Their nest.

 

[Ecalix]

In that case you’re having a staggered hatch. Those are tricky and often fail, as hens don’t always wait for late chicks to hatch, especially if they are more than a couple days apart. She may abandon the later additions before they hatch, or not accept them after they hatch. Do you know how to candle eggs? How far along are they? (Since you gave her the first two). Are you planning on letting her hatch and keep all of them? If it’s been more than a week, you can candle and see which ones are the most developed. Those will be the oldest. Mark them. I would recommend discarding the rest, but you need to decide if you want to keep all of them. Be prepared to hand-raise any rejects if you decide to keep them all (have a brooder set up and ready).

I don’t know how to candle but will look into it.

Adorable coop! I don't know about your weather, but we've got high humidity so it feels like it's 105 degrees & I've got tons of windows open yet they still prefer to stay out on the gazebo perches, it's just too darned hot.

In that case you’re having a staggered hatch. Those are tricky and often fail, as hens don’t always wait for late chicks to hatch, especially if they are more than a couple days apart. She may abandon the later additions before they hatch, or not accept them after they hatch. Do you know how to candle eggs? How far along are they? (Since you gave her the first two). Are you planning on letting her hatch and keep all of them? If it’s been more than a week, you can candle and see which ones are the most developed. Those will be the oldest. Mark them. I would recommend discarding the rest, but you need to decide if you want to keep all of them. Be prepared to hand-raise any rejects if you decide to keep them all (have a brooder set up and ready).

P.S. You don’t have to separate the hen. Hatching and raising with the flock is a good way to have the chicks automatically integrated without having to do any of the work yourself. The hen will introduce them to the flock. You can temporarily block off her nest after lockdown, so the others don’t trample the chicks if she’s not protective enough to keep them out. Until then, just keep collecting any new, unmarked eggs.

She is a good mom. The rest of the adult flock except for 1 were hatched by her. And she is the absolute best. She is extremely defensive of her babies amd she keeps a tight rope on the babies so I’m sure she will protect them from anyone trying to peck them. So I will let her deal with that again.
I’m definitely concerned about the staggering. She’s been sitting on the original 2 we left for about 3 weeks. The second hen started laying 2 wks ago. We also have 2 pullets that could possibly be laying as well and I just don’t know because I’m so new at this .
2 days ago a found an egg in yard fairly close to this 7 egg next. Who knows who is going what. Lol.

 

[3KillerBs]

One advantage to the fake eggs there is that they are exactly the same size and shape at both ends -- unlike a real egg.

That's one of the reasons I like golf balls. I can reach under a hen and extract the eggs blind and leave the golf balls behind.