First, you don't say which breed. Buff what? There are many breeds which have buff varieties. Some breeds are good setters, others generally are not. There are exceptions both ways. Your problem may be as simple as having a nonsetting breed.

Second, you don't say where you are, but in my area and many areas of the north, it's still very early in the season. My birds have only really been laying well for a few weeks, and only in the last few days has it been warm enough at night so that any eggs left in the nests would not freeze. Even in southern areas, you still have another month or two at least before you even have to start worrying about missing any opportunities for setting due to heat, etc. Even then, most chickens will cycle again, will set later in the summer.

Third, it's not a matter of number of eggs, but when the birds come into setting "mode". You'll have little success if you allow multiple hens to lay in the same nest and expect one to set while the others are still laying there every day.

The best thing to do is to seperate the hens that you wish to set into their own seperate pens. Collect eggs every day, and put a few dummy eggs or even golf balls in the nest. When she's ready, if she's of a breed that will set, she'll start. After she's been setting tightly for a few days, you can replace the dummies with some fresh eggs. Make sure that they're all eggs that haven't been set on yet, so they will all hatch together. Ideally in this situation, all the other hens will still be laying, so you'll have a plentiful supply. The number varies by size and breed, but to make a generalization, 24 is kind of a lot, but it's not unheard of, especially with bigger breeds. 12 to 15 is usually better, some breeds maybe even less.

Good luck.

thanks for the info!

we have buff orps

we're in East Central Iowa

the eggs were almost evenly distributed between 3 nests

thanks again for your kind help!
hugs from iowa
Elle Jaye

I just had to put my foot down at our house, where we had TEN hens go broody, all at once! Spring is in the air with a vengence, here. *L* But I'm in So. California where it's been warm for a while...

If you check my chicken info site and read the section on broody hens, it may help:

http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChickHensBroodiesChicks.htm

I've had the best results when I provide some nice, dark, hidey-hole type nests--the broodies instinctively want to feel very secure and like they are 'hiding' their nest for safety. Maybe providing a little extra in the way of goodies to eat will help trigger the 'plenty of food, let's have babies!' reflex, too.

Good luck with your girls and chicks! :)

Velvet ~:>

Alot of good information in the above posts. I might add though, that chickens are unpredictable at times. I had a Buff Orp who seemed to be sitting really well for a couple weeks. I moved her to private quarters on 8 new eggs and everything was well for three days or more. Then, she just got off the nest and left them. I watched her closely for a couple more days and sure enough, those eggs were doomed. So, in the pond they went and now she's back in with the flock. This particular hen has hatched broods twice before. Sometimes you just don't know what's in their little pea brains.