Hatching Nests

[betty preston]

How does a hen plan to get her new hatchlings from a nest high on a shelf? I know they stay on nest until chicks are ready to eat & drink. Seramamama

 

[chuckachucka]

I have no idea what goes on in their chickeny minds when they make nests high up because there is no way for the chicks to get back to that nest once they leave it after hatching. Hen and chicks will want to leave the nest within a couple of days to eat and, if the chicks aren't hurt from falling to ground level, they will be unable to return. Chicks can't fly at all until their wing feathers come in. So the mother hen would have to find another place for them to safely sleep at night on the ground (during the day she will sit on them wherever they happen to be).

The solution for most people is to not allow a broody to hatch eggs up high. Move the nest before or just after the chicks hatch, or at least provide some kind of ladder to and from the elevated nest.