Tag Team?

#1 05/28/12, 10:48 AM

I have about 14 chickens left out of 42 that came from the hatchery. I could use a few more so when one of the hens went broody 2 weeks ago I left the eggs under her in the nesting box. I marked them so I can tell which are the original ones and remove the others. A couple of other hens have gone broody but I am not leaving the eggs for them to sit on. Last night a different hen was sitting on the clutch that the original hen has been sitting on. Is this normal? Will these eggs be incubated to hatching?

Judy in IN · #2 05/28/12, 11:10 AM

Yep, this happens. One of the other broodies stole her nest when she got off to eat/drink. The eggs don't care. Whoever is on the nest when they hatch will be Momma. If you want that particular hen to be the mother, you'll have to separate her from the other hens. (which isn't a bad idea, anyway)

Becka · #3 05/28/12, 11:26 AM

We had this happen, too. Both hens would sit on the same clutch. When the first baby hatched, it was during the night. We woke up to find a dead baby chick in the floor. Don't know if one hen got jealous and killed it or if the roo killed it. We took and incubated the rest of the eggs, just in case.

Cliff · #4 05/28/12, 12:07 PM

Yeah they will hatch as long as the hen who is setting will stick with it. I also don't like to leave them in the house setting on the nests the other hens are using to lay in. Too much confusion and chance of eggs getting busted with the fussing and fighting that inevitably happens. I'd pull her and the eggs out and put them somewhere else.

scrapiron · #5 05/28/12, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cliff

Yeah they will hatch as long as the hen who is setting will stick with it. I also don't like to leave them in the house setting on the nests the other hens are using to lay in. Too much confusion and chance of eggs getting busted with the fussing and fighting that inevitably happens. I'd pull her and the eggs out and put them somewhere else.

Yea, or you will get one like mine who forgets what nest she was on. I went in the barn and all her eggs were cold, and she was setting on 1 egg in the next nest!

wolffeathers · #6 05/28/12, 01:51 PM

Best thing is to take the nest and the hen and place them in their seperate area.

Hens will fight over nests(and break eggs) or even forget which nest and try to set on a different nest leaving her original nest cold and dead. Another issue with leaving hens in the coop is the other hens will continue to lay, causing the eggs to hatch at different times/days.

I have found a large dog kennel to be a great broody coop. Put her nest in the back and food and water up front.