Hen set inside coop. Leave her be or cage her?

[Bicoastal]

I have a dedicated hen who is earnestly sitting on a nest inside the coop. That’s great! A safe, dry location. But the coop isn’t keet proof. Keets could get out under the door hinge when they are tiny.

Do I put her and eggs in a cage now? Do I wait til they hatch then put them in a cage?

Or do I count my lucky stars she’s sitting on a nest in the coop and leave her to it?

 

[MROO]

I have a dedicated hen who is earnestly sitting on a nest inside the coop. That’s great! A safe, dry location. But the coop isn’t keet proof. Keets could get out under the door hinge when they are tiny.

Do I put her and eggs in a cage now? Do I wait til they hatch then put them in a cage?

Or do I count my lucky stars she’s sitting on a nest in the coop and leave her to it?

Can you block the openings? And are there other birds to pester her? If there's room in there for a dog kennel, I'd set her up in one, just for safety's sake. Since the others will already be used to seeing them every day, you can just open the kennel door once the keets are big enough not to escape - no introduction time needed!

 

[R2elk]

I have a dedicated hen who is earnestly sitting on a nest inside the coop. That’s great! A safe, dry location. But the coop isn’t keet proof. Keets could get out under the door hinge when they are tiny.

Do I put her and eggs in a cage now? Do I wait til they hatch then put them in a cage?

Or do I count my lucky stars she’s sitting on a nest in the coop and leave her to it?

I would leave her alone until after keets hatch.

 

[Bicoastal]

I would leave her alone until after keets hatch.

Ok, @R2elk first couple keets have hatched. Do I leave them with mom or steal them?

They are inside the coop. The coop is shared by the whole flock (20).

 

[R2elk]

Ok, @R2elk first couple keets have hatched. Do I leave them with mom or steal them?

They are inside the coop. The coop is shared by the whole flock (20).

It's up to you. If she tries to take them out of the coop too soon you may lose them. If they are raised by the flock, they will readily merge with the flock.

If you put them in a brooder, later merging with the flock will not go as smoothly. If you are planning on selling them as keets, it is much easier to sell them from a brooder than it is to sell them from under a hen.

 

[Bicoastal]

Yes, that all makes sense. Decisions, decisions. Thank you! I value your input.

The brooder is ready if that’s what I decide. I have a very small batch in an incubator with 12
days to go. I will see what [keets] the morning brings and make some decisions. There are two hens sitting on about two dozen viable eggs. That’s exciting!

The coop is less ready if that’s what I decide. I wish I had cleaned it yesterday but I wanted to keep disturbance to a minimum since the eggs were so close. Now I have new keets on dirty bedding.

 

[R2elk]

Good luck.

 

[Bicoastal]

Ten hatched so far. One dead in the nest. Two lavenders! We also have slate, Royal purple, and classic pearl gray. I stole them, as you can see.

 

[Bicoastal]

Several more have hatched. I’ll find one live and one dead in the nest. Like the live one may be sitting next to or on the dead one. So how come one lived and one didn’t?

Dead keet is fully formed, dry and fluffy, and well covered by hen.

Is there something I can change to reduce these deaths? Is this somehow related to a staggered hatch?

Dead keets are sometimes underneath some eggs. Two were rather stuck to the bedding.

Total count so far is 12 live, 4 dead. I check the nest a couple times a day.

The hens have had better success than me getting eggs through incubation to hatch. But they’ve had less success getting keets from zip to zipping around.

Right now, Im downcast. Im wanting to either scrap the remaining eggs and break the hens’ broodiness or remove each egg, candle it again, clean off any yolk if necessary, replace alllll bedding including the nest, and form a new nest that is larger diameter and shallower. But if I interfere that much at this stage, I may kill the eggs anyway or cause the hens to abandon them.

What would you do?

 

[R2elk]

Several more have hatched. I’ll find one live and one dead in the nest. Like the live one may be sitting next to or on the dead one. So how come one lived and one didn’t?

Dead keet is fully formed, dry and fluffy, and well covered by hen.

Is there something I can change to reduce these deaths? Is this somehow related to a staggered hatch?

Dead keets are sometimes underneath some eggs. Two were rather stuck to the bedding.

Total count so far is 12 live, 4 dead. I check the nest a couple times a day.

The hens have had better success than me getting eggs through incubation to hatch. But they’ve had less success getting keets from zip to zipping around.

Right now, Im downcast. Im wanting to either scrap the remaining eggs and break the hens’ broodiness or remove each egg, candle it again, clean off any yolk if necessary, replace alllll bedding including the nest, and form a new nest that is larger diameter and shallower. But if I interfere that much at this stage, I may kill the eggs anyway or cause the hens to abandon them.

What would you do?

The dead keets are most likely getting stepped on.

If it was me, I would take all of the eggs, candle them and put all the viable eggs in an incubator.