HELP! I have pheasants laying eggs and nobody is setting!!

[SPRING CREEK FARM]

I have yellow golden pheasants that are currently laying, not setting. Last year I tried incubating them with less than desirable results. I refuse to try artificial incubation again due to the fact that I ended up with several crippled chicks. Yes, I have heard that is due for the most part to flucuations in humidity and temperature at crucial developmental stages for the chick. All I have is the foam Hovabator with egg turner, no fan; it does a fair job with chickens but not for the pheasants. Right now I have nearly 20 eggs and no one to set them; I was depending upon my Silkie hens to be broody, but right now, not even my Silkies are broody. (With the exception of one little black Silkie hen that is setting 2 peafowl eggs!

) What to do? I keep hoping that one or more of my other Silkie hens will become broody, if I did not want them to be broody, then all of them would want to set! Any suggestions?? Right now I have the pheasant eggs and 4 more peafowl eggs that I need to set. Last year, I had several different breeds of hens that hatched out the peafowl for me and I hope to use them to do the same this year.

 

[Reeves]

Your Peahens should incubate on their own, and are normally very good "mothers".

Same for Golden.

Are you leaving the eggs with them ?

Are they laying in the same place all the time ?

Your aviary set up so they have their privacy ?

 

[SPRING CREEK FARM]

The peahen lays all her eggs in the same nest; I generally will take a few out to let broody hens hatch some for me. I also let my peahen hatch some out; right now, we have 3 pied, about a year old,(1 female and 2 males) that she hatched out last year. As for the pheasants, no, they just kinda lay the eggs where-ever and sometimes even in the same nest as the peahen is laying her eggs! They have plenty of room in their coop; a large loft area that they also lay eggs helter-skelter in.

I have not had much luck with the pheasant hens setting and hatching out their eggs. I do not want to drag out the incubator; the mamas do a better job than I can!

 

[wilds of pa]

Do you have any local BYC friends with a bator or broody.. maybe they could help you out. we've helped a few BYC folks out locally here and hatched there eggs for them..