I have a situation that I am not sure how to deal with. Here goes:
We have 6 hens (all around 1 year old) Ginger went broody about 2 weeks ago so we bought her some local hatching eggs to see if she could hatch out some chicks. She is 8 days into sitting on the hatching eggs We left her in the nest box area because I was afraid that she would stop sitting on the eggs if I moved her (I now realize I should have moved her and then got her some hatching eggs once I knew she was going to keep sitting, but I don't want to move her now.). We check her each evening to grab any eggs she has stolen from the other nest boxes. Once the chicks hatch, I am planning to move mama and chicks to a separate cage for a while.
All has been fine up until today. A few days ago, another hen (Coco) started sitting in the nest box with her. She would sit on the eggs while Ginger went to take her break. Then Coco would get up and leave. Yesterday, Coco wouldn't get off the eggs when Ginger came back so I picked Coco up and put her outside the coop. That worked fine, but today I kicked Coco out but when it was time to roost, I noticed that she was sitting back with Ginger and she has a few of Ginger's eggs. They are sitting right next to each other, looking perfectly happy to share the clutch of eggs.
I just am not sure what I should do at this point... I read somewhere that if I let them continue sharing they eggs, they will fight over the chicks when they hatch. I don't want that to happen. I could just keep kicking Coco out. Will that work? Should I put Coco in a separate nest/brooder area and give her some eggs of her own? (I don't have a 3rd separate cage at this point, so I would need to make something or buy something). Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
Michiele
We have 6 hens (all around 1 year old) Ginger went broody about 2 weeks ago so we bought her some local hatching eggs to see if she could hatch out some chicks. She is 8 days into sitting on the hatching eggs We left her in the nest box area because I was afraid that she would stop sitting on the eggs if I moved her (I now realize I should have moved her and then got her some hatching eggs once I knew she was going to keep sitting, but I don't want to move her now.). We check her each evening to grab any eggs she has stolen from the other nest boxes. Once the chicks hatch, I am planning to move mama and chicks to a separate cage for a while.
All has been fine up until today. A few days ago, another hen (Coco) started sitting in the nest box with her. She would sit on the eggs while Ginger went to take her break. Then Coco would get up and leave. Yesterday, Coco wouldn't get off the eggs when Ginger came back so I picked Coco up and put her outside the coop. That worked fine, but today I kicked Coco out but when it was time to roost, I noticed that she was sitting back with Ginger and she has a few of Ginger's eggs. They are sitting right next to each other, looking perfectly happy to share the clutch of eggs.
I just am not sure what I should do at this point... I read somewhere that if I let them continue sharing they eggs, they will fight over the chicks when they hatch. I don't want that to happen. I could just keep kicking Coco out. Will that work? Should I put Coco in a separate nest/brooder area and give her some eggs of her own? (I don't have a 3rd separate cage at this point, so I would need to make something or buy something). Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
Michiele
