What do I do?! Hidden clutch of eggs!

[MamaFox78]

Oh boy... I came in the coop today and saw my EE, Taco, sitting up in the corner rafters. She was acting very territorial about her spot, I dare say broody, and wouldn't let me near her.

So when I closed up the chickens tonight, Taco was out of the corner and roosting on her usual beam (she likes to perch up there at night - silly birb). I took the opportunity to feel around up in the corner.... and found 20 eggs up there!!! I pulled them because a) that's not exactly a great spot for chicks to hatch, and b) I don't want her to hatch those anyway, as just yesterday I culled my super awful child-aggressive hen-rapist rooster, and I don't want to pass on any of his genes.

I couldn't find my candler, but I held a flashlight to all the eggs, and the yolks seem larger and heavier than the egg her sister, Burrito, laid today.

It appears these have begun incubating, so what the heck do I do with them now?! And next month when I'm good with the hens going broody, how do I persuade Taco to use the fancy new broody box I'm building instead of the rafters?? Ugh I wasn't ready for this today.

 

[DobieLover]

If there is no veining, they haven't started to develop. If she wasn't on them at roost time, she wasn't setting them. They don't go back to the roosts at night when they go full tilt broody.
I would toss the eggs and staple chicken wire up there to keep her out.
You can't encourage broodiness. Either a hen will go broody or they won't.

 

[mcdze]

sounds like a heck of a rooster lol .. me, id put um on top of some fence posts across the street and target practice lol ..

 

[MamaFox78]

If there is no veining, they haven't started to develop. If she wasn't on them at roost time, she wasn't setting them. They don't go back to the roosts at night when they go full tilt broody.
I would toss the eggs and staple chicken wire up there to keep her out.
You can't encourage broodiness. Either a hen will go broody or they won't.

Yeah I couldn't tell if there was veining, but the yolks looked larger and heavier than normal... but I figured the same, if she wasn't setting them at roost time she wasn't serious yet. Either way, I'll have to toss the eggs and I'm heading out now to staple up chicken wire!!

Hopefully when I get my new broody box set up, the girls will just decide to use it instead of finding random weird places to lay a clutch.

 

[MamaFox78]

sounds like a heck of a rooster lol .. me, id put um on top of some fence posts across the street and target practice lol ..

Haha not a bad idea... it would've been easier than processing him! I almost wrung his neck the day he cornered my 7 & 8yo kids in the coop and they were covered in bruises and scratches... that was the last straw after he killed a couple hens who resisted. He was a very bad boy, and I don't want to hatch any eggs until I'm sure his swimmers are out of the gene pool!