Mixing eggs - weird idea?

[hector]

Okay, I know I'm brainstorming a lot lately. I just can't help it - the thoughts are just coming.
This one might also be something I read about somewhere earlier, I'm not sure.

I'm thinking about that I got now 2 hens with eggs and they started to lay the eggs with just one day difference. I was thinking: would that be a good idea to interchange their eggs so that in both nests the eggs would hatch about the same time?
I this particular case this would made approx. 6 eggs hatching in one hen's nest whithin 7 days and another 5 eggs hatching at the other hen's nest within another 6 days.

I would think it could make the hen's life easier to have a more homogene aged clutch, right? (One of my hens has always lost eggs because she coulnd't sit properly on the last eggs because of the large chicks she had to look after.)
But I guess there could be other effects too as the eggs wouldn't hatch as the hen expects according to her laying...

This time I'm late with this anyway because the eggs already started to hatch and I didn't numbered them.
Anyway I'm very interested what you think.
Maybe I did read this somewhere and it's not just coming from my freakin' mind. ;D

[nev90]

I think a hen manages the clutch better when the eggs hatch on different days. She feeds the new chicks crop milk and if they all hatched together some of the chicks might not get enough. It would be better to move the chicks when they are a week or two old to even up the ages

[budgiedan]

hi hector, just my opinion of course but i think this would mean alot of "faffing" about with nature and nature inttended the eggs were to be laid at intervals of every other day and the mothers sure know what there doing so in my opinion i would leave the hen to it and let nature takes its course, as far as the last chick or 2 dying or not even hatching is quite a common occurence and happens to many people

[hector]

Thanks for the inputs.
Dan, I usually lost more than two eggs per clutch, that's why I started to think on this.
What nev90 says makes sense too.
I like to discuss these things here.

[barrieshutt]

I always go Nevs way which is the only way

[hector]

I will keep this in mind. Even if it goes a bit "against nature" it's a good way to make the hens' job somewhat easier.