Pre-broody nest and eggs questions

[oneoftheflock4]

Hen has recently returned to laying after a failed nest/clutch situation. She’s been laying for a few weeks and showing signs of wanting to go broody again, I’d say she’s ‘pre-broody,’ if that’s a thing. She has started spending a bit more time on the nest after laying and is getting moodier/sassier and more puffy but isn’t trying to sit full time yet.

Feeling like it’s too soon for her to go full broody and try again with another clutch, so have been collecting some of her eggs some days, and leaving some for her to come back to.

Have some questions about her pre-broody behavior and also about eggs that are being sit on daily like this.

What will happen if I take all the eggs currently in her nest? Is she too close to being broody, will it really upset her or will she be okay? Also if I take all the eggs will she likely abandon that nest spot?

Will the eggs she’s been sitting on some over the past week or so be okay to take for food or will they have begun to incubate? At what point are they starting to develop and past harvesting? Once she starts sitting on them overnight?

Is there a best practice for a routine for collecting eggs from hens nests? Is it better to take them daily, allow them to accumulate over some days and then take some or all, etc?

 

[sourland]

It's best to collect eggs daily. To keep her using a nest site, replace them with 'nest eggs' - artificial eggs.

 

[oneoftheflock4]

It's best to collect eggs daily. To keep her using a nest site, replace them with 'nest eggs' - artificial eggs.

Thanks for sharing advice.

After collecting all her eggs she created an even stealthier wild nest further away. Working on trying to get her to nest closer in a nest box but they are being really protective of their eggs and nests.