GooseMoyo
Hatching
My hens have a coop/run but also free range the surrounding area most of the day. I don't particularly pay attention to what they're doing unless egg production drops or something out of the ordinary occurs. Recently we've had a reduction in eggs laid in the coop but not zero so I just assumed with the hot weather (90+ degrees in S.TX) the hens were adjusting a bit... since there were still some, I didn't think they were laying outside.
Fast forward to this morning, I found ~a dozen eggs outside the run inside an upside down plastic bin thing. I have no idea how old the oldest egg is but one of my hens ran out of it this morning so I know she was in there. They don't typically lay in the morning time but we had a massive storm yesterday/last night so maybe that messed up her timing.
If she is incubating the eggs, I want her do that but I have a few concerns/questions:
1. Aside from constant/vigorous monitoring, how can I confirm she is incubating the eggs? I can't confirm but it looks like there may be eggs from multiple hens in the pile.
2. The location isn't great for chicks to hatch since it's outside of the fenced run (I've got a puppy that mostly leaves the hens alone but I'm certain would get the chicks). Can I move the plastic bin and the eggs to inside the run or would disturbing it cause the hen to abandon them?
Fast forward to this morning, I found ~a dozen eggs outside the run inside an upside down plastic bin thing. I have no idea how old the oldest egg is but one of my hens ran out of it this morning so I know she was in there. They don't typically lay in the morning time but we had a massive storm yesterday/last night so maybe that messed up her timing.
If she is incubating the eggs, I want her do that but I have a few concerns/questions:
1. Aside from constant/vigorous monitoring, how can I confirm she is incubating the eggs? I can't confirm but it looks like there may be eggs from multiple hens in the pile.
2. The location isn't great for chicks to hatch since it's outside of the fenced run (I've got a puppy that mostly leaves the hens alone but I'm certain would get the chicks). Can I move the plastic bin and the eggs to inside the run or would disturbing it cause the hen to abandon them?
