Two broody hens?

[bpoore04]

Ok so I have a SLW that has been broody for the past week so we finally decided to give her some eggs and we put them under her and then she got off the nest to eat and drink and roll around and stuff and while she was doing that one of my BOs came and sat on all the eggs before the SLW could get back. (I had took the BO out of her nest box previously so I guess she was ready to come back) And the BO has sat in the nesting box for just about 3 days so we weren’t sure that it was fully committed but she sort of stole the SLW’s eggs?? And then the SLW came back and went into a different nesting box and is there right now. We weren’t sure what to do so we took the eggs that the BO wasn’t covering all the way and put them under the SLW in the next nest. Was that the right thing to do? The BO has 10 eggs under her and the SLW only 2. Do I need to even them out with 6 and 6? Thanks in advance

 

[Perris]

If the BO wasn't covering all the eggs it would not be able to cover them all as chicks either, so I'm sure you did the right thing. You will spread the risk best with 6:6. Having 2 broodies simultaneously can be advantageous, in so far as if there is an issue with one, you have a backup. Especially useful if they are both first timers.

 

[aart]

Mark the eggs under them now, maybe with different colors, so you can remove any newly laid eggs in the nest daily...and maybe redistribute egg if they get moved from nest to nest.

Do you have other layers and other nests?
Might want to put a fake egg in each of the other nests to encourage the non broodies to lay in them.

Best of cLuck!