Two hens sitting on eggs

[missbrit2006]

I have two hens sitting on eggs in the coop, every day I go in there to collect eggs there sitting on eggs. So I just left them. My hens have never sat on eggs no longer then to lay an egg and leave, I noticed the other night I went to check to see if they were sitting and both were sitting on the eggs. So I went for the last few nights and they were sitting all day and night. Do they ever leave to eat? Also, there's a hen laying in the box with the hen sitting on her eggs and the hen won't let me collect the eggs from the other hen she goes crazy and I'll go back and she's pulled the egg underneath her. What do I do

 

[Chad Duncan]

You have two choices. Let the hen continue sitting on the eggs until they hatch or steal the eggs out from under her regardless of her opinion on the subject. She will briefly leave to eat and poop. Her behavior is called being 'broody'.

 

[aart]

I have two hens sitting on eggs in the coop, every day I go in there to collect eggs there sitting on eggs. So I just left them. My hens have never sat on eggs no longer then to lay an egg and leave, I noticed the other night I went to check to see if they were sitting and both were sitting on the eggs. So I went for the last few nights and they were sitting all day and night. Do they ever leave to eat? Also, there's a hen laying in the box with the hen sitting on her eggs and the hen won't let me collect the eggs from the other hen she goes crazy and I'll go back and she's pulled the egg underneath her. What do I do

Sounds like you have 2 broody hens....how long has this been going on?
Having 2 could be a big problem.....or not.
At the very least, if those eggs are fertile and you want them hatched out, you need to mark any eggs that are under there and remove new ones laid by other birds each day.

You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? She may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[missbrit2006]

Almost three weeks into laying on eggs they leave the nest and don't sit on the eggs anymore