Two broodys in the same box??

[turkey girl 0964]

My first GLW bantam went broody about 2 weeks ago and has 10 eggs 3 of which are about 12 days along and the rest are about a week along. 5 days ago her bantam sister decided she wanted to go broody also.. IN THE SAME BOX!! I have tried moving her to a different one but she just goes back to the same box! They are inseparable so whenever they are apart they scream like crazy! There have been no problems so far but is this ok? Or should I separate them? I don’t know what to do with her?

 

[sourland]

Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Within 36 hours after the first chick hatches the hens will leave the remaining eggs leaving the remaining eggs in need of incubation. Separation of the hens and eggs would be a wise move.

 

[turkey girl 0964]

@Overo Mare @Ridgerunner @

 

[Yardmom]

You need to give one hen the eggs that are a week along and the ones that are 12 days along to the other. Candle with a cell phone flashlight to compare. I would suggest cages or fences so they can not steal each other's eggs.

 

[turkey girl 0964]

You need to give one hen the eggs that are a week along and the ones that are 12 days along to the other. Candle with a cell phone flashlight to compare. I would suggest cages or fences so they can not steal each other's eggs.

They were not all laid on the same day so they are all different stages. Thank for the info!

 

[Ridgerunner]

A staggered hatch with two broody hens sharing a nest. There is a lot to unpack here.

For the next time, do things differently. Collect the eggs daily until you have all the eggs you want the broody to hatch. Do not leave any eggs out there. After you have all the eggs you want her to hatch mark them and put them under the broody at the same time. Then, every day after the others have laid, check under the broody and remove any that don't belong. Every day without fail.

But that is next time. What do you do now? The first question is the two broody hens sharing a nest. Some people let two broodies incubate together on the same nest, hatch together, and raise the chicks together. Often it works out fine and is really cute when it works. But sometimes the hens fight over the eggs or chicks. I had two fight over eggs just as they started to internal pip and started peeping inside the shell. Half the eggs were destroyed. Those two were not sharing a nest but each had their own nest. Some people on the forum say they've had two hens share a nest and one would kill the chicks that hatched under the other hen. The two hens can harm the chicks if they fight over who gets to raise them. This can be chicks that they hatch together or chicks that each hatched separately, sometimes chicks of different ages.

Will two hens that try to incubate, hatch, and raise chicks together always be a disaster, absolutely not. Many people do it. You can try it if you wish, it might work.

Now, the staggered hatch. The eggs that started incubation first will hatch first. The chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch so they can live for three days or more without eating or drinking. But eventually the chicks need to eat and drink or they die. So a broody hen has to decide whether to bring the already hatched chicks off of the nest and abandon the unhatched eggs or watch her chicks die. Most hens bring the chicks off the nest and let the unhatched eggs die. Staggered hatches are very stressful and I think should be avoided both with broody hens and in incubators. Incubator staggered hatches have their own issues.

So what can you do? You have many options.

You can carry on as you are. Let the two continue to incubate and hatch together. Understand there is a risk but they may work great together as a team. They will probably abandon the unhatched eggs.

Do as above but get an incubator. Try to hatch the abandoned eggs in it. You can try to give the two broody hens the chicks as they hatch, they might accept them. Or you may need to raise them yourself. The most likely outcome is that you will need to raise them yourself but with broody hens you never know what will happen.

You can break one of those hens from being broody. If you decide to do this let us know so we can help.

You can separate the two broody hens. That means you have to lock at least one of then up so they cannot get back to the other nest. In your case it may be beneficial to lock both up. As you have seen you cannot just set her on a different nest, she will return to the other one. You need a pen with a nest, room for food and water, and not much else. It needs to be predator proof or in a location predator proof. Until after the hatch she cannot leave that enclosure and no other hen can enter. If I were to try this I'd want the hens a fair distance apart. You don't know what will happen with one broody if she hears the other one hatching.

The biggest risk with this is that a hen does not accept the move and breaks from being broody. If I were to try this I'd candle the eggs and try to set the most developed under one hen and the least under the other. When the first hatches and brings her chicks off the nest you can try putting the unhatched eggs under the other.

After they both hatch I'd leave them alone with their chicks for at least a week so they bond with their chicks before I let them share a common space. When they share a common space they may merge both broods and raise them together, they may fight to determine which hen gets to raise all of them, or they may each keep their chicks separate. Lots of different things might happen.

I don't know what is the best decision for you. You don't get guarantees on anything. But perhaps yo see why I suggest you collect all the eggs you want a broody to hatch and start them at the same time, then remove any other eggs daily. It is so much less stressful. Good luck however you decide and let us know what happens.

 

[Secondof9]

Last spring I had 3 hens go broody within a couple days of each other on the 7 hatching eggs I'd gotten. I left them alone and they were very cordial to each other and shared the eggs. The number of eggs under each hen varied each day and one was always on the nest while the other 2 tended to business off the nest. 3 chicks hatched well and all 3 mama hens shared the care and tending of the chicks! Of the other 4 eggs one was infertile, 2 quit about day 10 and one died during hatch. Overall I feel it was a great success. I wish you the same!

 

[turkey girl 0964]

A staggered hatch with two broody hens sharing a nest. There is a lot to unpack here.

For the next time, do things differently. Collect the eggs daily until you have all the eggs you want the broody to hatch. Do not leave any eggs out there. After you have all the eggs you want her to hatch mark them and put them under the broody at the same time. Then, every day after the others have laid, check under the broody and remove any that don't belong. Every day without fail.

But that is next time. What do you do now? The first question is the two broody hens sharing a nest. Some people let two broodies incubate together on the same nest, hatch together, and raise the chicks together. Often it works out fine and is really cute when it works. But sometimes the hens fight over the eggs or chicks. I had two fight over eggs just as they started to internal pip and started peeping inside the shell. Half the eggs were destroyed. Those two were not sharing a nest but each had their own nest. Some people on the forum say they've had two hens share a nest and one would kill the chicks that hatched under the other hen. The two hens can harm the chicks if they fight over who gets to raise them. This can be chicks that they hatch together or chicks that each hatched separately, sometimes chicks of different ages.

Will two hens that try to incubate, hatch, and raise chicks together always be a disaster, absolutely not. Many people do it. You can try it if you wish, it might work.

Now, the staggered hatch. The eggs that started incubation first will hatch first. The chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch so they can live for three days or more without eating or drinking. But eventually the chicks need to eat and drink or they die. So a broody hen has to decide whether to bring the already hatched chicks off of the nest and abandon the unhatched eggs or watch her chicks die. Most hens bring the chicks off the nest and let the unhatched eggs die. Staggered hatches are very stressful and I think should be avoided both with broody hens and in incubators. Incubator staggered hatches have their own issues.

So what can you do? You have many options.

You can carry on as you are. Let the two continue to incubate and hatch together. Understand there is a risk but they may work great together as a team. They will probably abandon the unhatched eggs.

Do as above but get an incubator. Try to hatch the abandoned eggs in it. You can try to give the two broody hens the chicks as they hatch, they might accept them. Or you may need to raise them yourself. The most likely outcome is that you will need to raise them yourself but with broody hens you never know what will happen.

You can break one of those hens from being broody. If you decide to do this let us know so we can help.

You can separate the two broody hens. That means you have to lock at least one of then up so they cannot get back to the other nest. In your case it may be beneficial to lock both up. As you have seen you cannot just set her on a different nest, she will return to the other one. You need a pen with a nest, room for food and water, and not much else. It needs to be predator proof or in a location predator proof. Until after the hatch she cannot leave that enclosure and no other hen can enter. If I were to try this I'd want the hens a fair distance apart. You don't know what will happen with one broody if she hears the other one hatching.

The biggest risk with this is that a hen does not accept the move and breaks from being broody. If I were to try this I'd candle the eggs and try to set the most developed under one hen and the least under the other. When the first hatches and brings her chicks off the nest you can try putting the unhatched eggs under the other.

After they both hatch I'd leave them alone with their chicks for at least a week so they bond with their chicks before I let them share a common space. When they share a common space they may merge both broods and raise them together, they may fight to determine which hen gets to raise all of them, or they may each keep their chicks separate. Lots of different things might happen.

I don't know what is the best decision for you. You don't get guarantees on anything. But perhaps yo see why I suggest you collect all the eggs you want a broody to hatch and start them at the same time, then remove any other eggs daily. It is so much less stressful. Good luck however you decide and let us know what happens.

WOW! Thanks for all the information! I think I will let one hen sit on the 3 12 day old eggs and put the other hen in our extra pen. I am trying to let them hatch the eggs (because my incubator is cr@p) and then sell the chicks as barn yard mixes because the eggs are all from different hens and Roos. I am not planning on keeping the chicks. I want to do the same thing with my turkey hen.