A Problem?

[ClareScifi]

My hen started sitting on fertilized eggs on September 6.

On September 24 and 25 I need to go out of town and won't be home until late on the 25th.

What are the chances some of the eggs could hatch while I'm gone?

I'm worried that it could be a hot day, so I'd need to have the coop door open, and I have cats. If the eggs hatched, the cats might get the babies? Maybe Mama Hen could protect them, but this is the first time she's been a mother?

Should I plant to ditch my trip and stay home? Do some eggs tend to hatch before 21 days of sitting?

Thanks for your help,

Clare

 

[BairleaFarm]

Slim ........ she will still have them in lock down. She'll fight til the death if something messes with her chicks if she is anything like my main broody hen.

 

[mommywoes]

I've got eggs hatching now on day 20. And I've had eggs hatch on day 24. So it's up to you, but if I were you I'd have someone you can trust come over and keep an eye on things.

 

[stoopid]

Lock the cats up, and let mama hen be comfy.

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

It shouldn't be a problem - if they went in on the 6'th, they should be hatching on the 26'th unless they are bantams (sometimes bantams hatch a day earlier.). Even so, whether first time mother or not, especially if she is a lighter or gamier breed she should defend her chicks.

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

The Mama is a Barred Plymouth Rock, one of the heavier breeds.

I can't lock up the cats. They are part feral. There is no way to catch them and lock them up.

The eggs are mixed. I think the person who brought them said some are bantams. One is a very small egg, compared to the others.

My neighbor says he'll watch them, but when I went on vacation recently I came home to a dead chicken. I think she died of a heat stroke. So I am quite nervous. Maybe I'd better just stay home, especially with a bantam egg. The neighbor has church that morning and evening of the 25th, so he'll be tied up a lot on the day the bantam might hatch.

Of course, it is possible none of the eggs are any good and all this worrying is in vain. That would be my luck, to stay home and get no chicks after forfeiting a fall foliage viewing oportunity.

The neighbor is the one who brought the eggs and wanted to go this hatching route, so maybe I'll just throw it in his lap. But I'd hate for my sweet Mama Hen to go through the trauma of losing any chicks, if I can prevent it. Most of the cats are afraid of her. She charges them and scares them away from their catfood. But there was force in numbers, and it was easier for the 2 hens to gang up successfully on the 7 cats, showering them with lots of dust from their baths. Since she is by herself now, it won't be as easy or as much fun for her to do so.

So I still don't know what to do, but at least I have some good info from you guys to go on, in making a decision.