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Too Many Eggs?


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Hi all,

Sorry for another post but i am getting worried about my breeding pair.

Well there was 11 eggs and one hatched, that chick died at 2 days old from not being fed. The hen then continued and laid another egg making it 12. Another chick has hatched, but she hasn't fed it (i have given it 3 feeds so far) The hen has then laid ANOTHER egg so that makes 13.

I am worried she will continue and she will get sick.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Regards,

Jaff

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If you have another pair of birds breeding, consider giving the other pair the chicks, or eggs.

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I only have the one pair breeding :(

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Make sure you have plenty of calcium available to the pair. If you remove some eggs, she might just lay more to replace the ones you took. I would leave them be and make sure the chicks are being fed.

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I only leave four fertile eggs with the parents so this way the chicks are not overcrowded and the parents dont get exhausted trying to feed to many.

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How many eggs has your hen laid now? Hens seem to be programmed regarding the number of eggs laid. I have hens that consistently lay the same number of eggs every time, usually 5 or 6. I have one hen who lays 10 eggs! All of them were fertile too. I agree with Rachel. Don't move the eggs as this may prompt the hen to keep on laying. Keep a close eye on things, provide plenty of calcium, and be ready to play foster parent should the need arise. The chances are that all the eggs either won't be fertile or won't hatch anyway.

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I realize that this thread is quite old, and whatever Jaffa was going to do is done and over by now., But I wanted to add some advice for other people who may come across this topic who have the same situation.

 

I don't think it is ever a problem to remove a hen's eggs if she is laying too many. She may or may not try to keep replacing the removed eggs, but chances are she is a chronic layer, and is going to keep laying new eggs no matter what you do. (Removing the box is often a good way to get a hen to stop laying.)

 

Laying over a dozen eggs is a problem, because she will just deplete herself, and eventually the eggs she lays will be thin-shelled and infertile. You have a couple of options. If you want to try to let her raise some chicks in order for her to learn from the experience, you should candle the eggs and like A'shaar said, only leave her with a manageable amount, IF any are fertile. MARK those eggs, so that if she lays more, you will know which ones they are, and throw away any new eggs. Then wait a reasonable amount of time for the marked eggs to hatch, and see what she does with the chicks. Regardless, I would not let her go a second round after that until she has had a rest.

 

The other option is that since there are already problems, you may want to just remove the box, throw away all the eggs (people with other sitting hens can foster any fertile ones), and in this way disrupt the hen's laying cycle. Give her a good rest, and perhaps the next time she comes into condition, she will be smarter about what to do.

 

But some hens are just not good breeders. If she is infertile, or refuses to mate with the cock, or can't incubate properly or won't feed chicks, then it is just as well not to breed from her anyway, because she could pass those traits on to her offspring.

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