My first broody hen!

[Smart Red]

The first time a chicken went broody I realized there would be a problem. She started with five lovely eggs. When I checked three days later there were seven eggs. It seems that the other hens were laying their eggs in the nice safe nest whenever Lucy took a break off the clutch.

I ended up marking the seven eggs and removing all extras each day so all her eggs would hatch about the same time.

Your lovely Australorp mommy looks a lot like my Lucy and certainly seems to have everything under control.