Yesterday morning I woke up to find our Cochin hen still in her "nest" in the corner of the coop, sitting on her one lonely (unfertilized) egg, showing signs of broodiness.
I called my aunt, who has fertile eggs in her coop, and she brought me five to put under Pinga.
Because her location in the coop was not ideal, I fixed up a kennel for her and transferred her and gave her the eggs. Once she was moved, she wouldn't sit, came out for awhile and then went back to the coop. Giving it one last try, I put her back in the kennel with the eggs yesterday evening and closed the door. This morning she was standing up, anxious to get out. The eggs were cold, but not frozen. It got down to 10 degrees last night, but I would imagine her bulk and body heat kept them reasonably protected. She's a big girl.
After Pinga had breakfast, she went right back to her corner and settled in, on no eggs. I grabbed the five fertile ones and tucked them under her. She seemed pleased. She has been on them for a couple of hours now.
My question is, since these eggs had not yet really started incubating yesterday, do you think they are still okay now? If she stays sitting on them from here on out, do they stand a reasonable chance? Ideally, I would have left her in the corner the entire time, but I didn't think she would be so insistent that that was HER place.
I'm such a first-timer. Sheesh!
I called my aunt, who has fertile eggs in her coop, and she brought me five to put under Pinga.
Because her location in the coop was not ideal, I fixed up a kennel for her and transferred her and gave her the eggs. Once she was moved, she wouldn't sit, came out for awhile and then went back to the coop. Giving it one last try, I put her back in the kennel with the eggs yesterday evening and closed the door. This morning she was standing up, anxious to get out. The eggs were cold, but not frozen. It got down to 10 degrees last night, but I would imagine her bulk and body heat kept them reasonably protected. She's a big girl.
After Pinga had breakfast, she went right back to her corner and settled in, on no eggs. I grabbed the five fertile ones and tucked them under her. She seemed pleased. She has been on them for a couple of hours now.
My question is, since these eggs had not yet really started incubating yesterday, do you think they are still okay now? If she stays sitting on them from here on out, do they stand a reasonable chance? Ideally, I would have left her in the corner the entire time, but I didn't think she would be so insistent that that was HER place.
I'm such a first-timer. Sheesh!
