Broody hen

[mrwoodboat]

One of my Red Golden pheasant hens has decided to sit her eggs- all my pheasants lay every other day (on the same day?) and I have been taking the eggs to put in the incubators. Now that I do not have any room left, I decided to leave the eggs to see if any of the hens would sit- the one I never expected to sit has been on her eggs for the past day and a half- I am wondering if I could put a couple of other eggs under her and she would continue to sit??

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

No I wouldn't because mine wild red goldens sit on their eggs and once they lay a clutch they will sit. If you add eggs and the first ones hatch she will leave the nest to take care of the other chicks that hatched first. That is why they don't lay on them until they have up to 9 which is to many so I only let them sit on 6-7 at a time.
Keep track of when she started to sit and in about 2 weeks you can candle them and take out the ones that aren't fertile and then once they hatch make sure you have small enough wire around your cage so the chicks don't get out. Once they hatch I always dip there beaks in the water and sprinkle some food for them on the floor even tho' the mother will show them it's always better to be safe because sometimes if this is the first clutch she's hatched she may not know what to do.
It is the most amazing thing once they hatch how they crawl under the mother and follow her threwout the pen once they are about a week old.
I have so many birds sitting on the eggs right now I don't even have my incubator on.

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Also once they sit the first year more than likely they will repeat every yr if you let them.

 

[mrwoodboat]

Thanks- we decided to try putting the other R/G and D/T eggs with her since everyone lays at the same interval- it has only been 2 days since they all layed....when I put the eggs in the nest, she left it and we thought that she would not go back on them but when I got home, she was sitting the eggs...fingers crossed...

Our flights all have metal siding for the bottom 2' with wire the top 4 ' and are covered in 1" square netting (we use PE not wire or nylon)- the whole pen sits on rocks that have cement and sand mix over them then dirt and daylilies and iris's.....so far not one has been able to get in (a few have tried and lost to our 3 Great Danes).. feeders are such that chicks should be able to access them and the water.

Again thank you to everyone that has so freely offered us advice and guidance!!!!

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

I understand what you are saying about her sitting on the eggs if you place more under her Yes she will sit on them BUT when the others hatch she will not continue to sit on the other eggs and they will die.

 

[mrwoodboat]

shouldn't they all hatch about the same time since they were all layed within a few hours of each other and all were sat on about the same amount of time? Also- I figured when she gets up, I can put them in the bator to finish off, right??

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

I thought you said they were layed 2 days apart that is why I said she will abandon the other eggs when the other hatch that were layed 2 days previous. Yes you can put them in your bator if you find them in time and she hasn't left them for to long because the last couple of days are the most important time that is why I wouldn't have added eggs once she started to sit on them. How many eggs is she laying on if there are to many they will not get the same amount of heat from her because she is only so big and can only spread her wings over so many. If it were me I would only have about 6 eggs under her to give them the best chance to hatch.

 

[mrwoodboat]

All 3 of my hens lay every other day, usually about the same time- they layed on Tues, then on Thurs and today- the hen that is sitting did not begin sitting till yesterday about 3:00 or so ( I had just gotten home from work and she was not laying but was in the front of the flight looking for their treats, when I went back out to fill water, I saw her sitting the nest...I put the eggs under her this morning after the other R/G and the D/T hens had layed about 7:30, 7:45

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Normally if a hen is laying on her eggs she doesn't normally get off of them but for a very short time. If she is only laying on them periodically the eggs will not hatch.

 

[mrwoodboat]

when I went out to feed this morning, the hen is still on the eggs, yea!!!! has 6 that she has been on all day Friday an so far today. I cannot say she was on them all day on Thur or not as she came to the feeder to get her treats both Wed and Thur....but I did see her sitting on the nest a couple of times when I walked by...