I have a group of chickens, different breeds... the coop stays open and they go in at night on their own.. during the day they free range... 2 of my hens disappeared about 1 week ago and i have found the nests they are sitting on. they are rotating sitting on each others nests and are staying on the eggs all day long... however at night they are going back into the coop. I know they are fertilized as my dog got one of the eggs this morning and I found her eating it and noticed the baby chick growing..... so should i be concerned that they are not sitting on the nests in the evening?? it is not cold here but at night it is in the 50's.... should i get the eggs and incubate if i want chicks?? please help any info would be great
If they are getting off of them over night, the development might have stopped. I'm not a hatching expert, but I don't think they can leave them that long. you could move the eggs to a nest that is in the coop. You could also move eggs and momma's into a smaller isolation coop or a dog crate with their own food and water so they don't have to leave.
