Tips please for broody hen w/out a brooding box

[lilmama]

Hello,

This is my third question today! Wow!

So, I got some fertile eggs for my broody hen who was sitting on infertiles in her laying box. Problem is that one other chicken wants to use the same laying box (the other third chicken uses the alternate box.) Won't the eggs get broken? Ideas??? I don't really have another place for the broody...

Thanks!

 

[Happy Chooks]

They should be okay. Just be sure to mark the eggs you want to incubate with a sharpie, and remove the fresh ones every day. Your broody will steal eggs, and you won't know which ones to leave in the nest.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you have no other place, you have no other place.

Many of us let broodies hatch eggs with the rest of the flock having access and nothing bad happens. Sometimes something bad does happen. Each chicken is different and each flock has its own dynamics. Hens have been hatching chicks with the flock for thousands of years. Does everythng always go perfectly? No, not always. Does disaster occur each and every time? No.

The risks as I see them are that you have very thin egg shells so they can be easily broken. Of course, the broody could break those when she is turning the eggs. The other potential problem is that the broody might try to keep another hen out of the nest and eggs could be broken in the scuffle. I've never had that happen.

If you really have no other place, I suggest you mark the eggs so you know which ones are supposed to be there and check in the nest every day to remove any that don't belong.

Good luck!