Two Broody Hens

[FeatheredRaptor]

I have a buff Orpington that went broody 14 days ago. Marked the 12 eggs. Then 7 days ago a second buff Orpington went broody. I decided to take half of the 12 and put them under broody hen #2 so they each have 6 eggs under each other. I didn’t want to have a huge amount a babies. My questions are:

1. How bad did I mess up putting half the clutch from hen #1 under hen #2?

2. They are both in a triple nesting box, should I move the hens away from each other? Should I put them both into my newly constructed chicken tractor?

I’m conflicted if I messed up and if I should put them both in chicken tractor or leave them in the coop? This is my first broody hens. White &blue coop is the coop they’re in, There are 3 nesting spots for 11 hens and the run is 25x6. The stained coop is my newly constructed chicken tractor. It is now finished with 2 nesting boxes (milk crates turned in their sides) and has a 4x10 run. Thanks for everyone’s help in advance.

 

[janiedoe]

You have a very nice coop! I don't think you've messed up at all.
I've devided eggs among hens several times. As long as the 2nd hen has a week to sit before the eggs hatch she will be fine.
I've had hens hatch together and share nests and chicks with no problem. It apparently doesn't work out for everyone so it depends on the personality of individual hens.
The one thing that I've found that lowers the hatch rate is not sectioning off the nest. Other hens go in and roll the eggs around and sometimes out of the nest. They also bring bacteria in. If you are able, put some chicken wire around the nest to keep them out.
Also when your chicks hatch, you want them to be seen by the other hens but not harmed when they are jumping off the roosts. I use dog crates and lock mom and chicks in at night and let them out in the morning. Your ramps may be a challenge for the chicks for a week or so but they will adjust.
I hope this helped. Good luck with your hatch.

 

[FeatheredRaptor]

You have a very nice coop! I don't think you've messed up at all.
I've devided eggs among hens several times. As long as the 2nd hen has a week to sit before the eggs hatch she will be fine.
I've had hens hatch together and share nests and chicks with no problem. It apparently doesn't work out for everyone so it depends on the personality of individual hens.
The one thing that I've found that lowers the hatch rate is not sectioning off the nest. Other hens go in and roll the eggs around and sometimes out of the nest. They also bring bacteria in. If you are able, put some chicken wire around the nest to keep them out.
Also when your chicks hatch, you want them to be seen by the other hens but not harmed when they are jumping off the roosts. I use dog crates and lock mom and chicks in at night and let them out in the morning. Your ramps may be a challenge for the chicks for a week or so but they will adjust.
I hope this helped. Good luck with your hatch.

Thank you very much for your response. I feel much better now. I’m not sure how I can section off the nesting box and still allow the hens the ability to leave for food, water, and relieving themselves.

I can turn the chicken tractor into a maternity ward or I could extend the main coop and create new nesting boxes. Basically create a maternity ward.

 

[FeatheredRaptor]

Well I have a disappointing update. Today the wife and I went to see if we had a chick pipping and sure enough we did. It had a nice pipp, was just a chirping away. We were very excited for our girls (daughters) to come home and see a baby chick or more hatched.

I took the girls out to see the hens and check if we had a baby chick born yet or maybe two. Opened the nesting box and no chirping, looked under the hen the hen on the left, empty egg shell. Figured the other hen must have brought it under its wing... nothing.

Send a kid around the other side to see if it fell out of the nesting box. Success she see it’s laying next to the momma hen.... and that’s when horror strikes. The hen on the right side was eating it.

So now we have no chicks thus far, no other pips, and a funeral to conduct. Also an explanation that chickens are chickens and who knows why they’d do that. I did see both hens had blood and stuff on their beaks. I took the hen that was actively eating it in front of us and separated it. Then put all remaining eggs under the hen on the left.

So can anyone tell me what the heck happened? Is removing the hen on right (actively eating the chick) and putting the remaining eggs under the other hen the correct course of action?

 

[centrarchid]

Outcome predictable when hens not in stage or incubation cycle the aligns with hatching date.

 

[FeatheredRaptor]

The wife and I are just kind of bummed out that this happened and on our first batch of broody hens. Really just wanted to see the hens be good mommas to the little fuzz balls. Now I find out the momma hen is as good as a crack addict for a mom.

 

[FeatheredRaptor]

Outcome predictable when hens not in stage or incubation cycle the aligns with hatching date.

Not sure I understand. The hen that did the eating was the hen sitting for 21 days... today is hatch day