Moving Sitters

[thaiturkey]

The answer to this seemed obvious to me but now I have to question my assumption. I have always understood that you don't attempt to move a sitting hen with her eggs because she will abandon them.

We have two cockerel and two hen banties. One hen is now on eggs and the other will probably follow suit soon. They are free range. As the younger cockerel grows, we expect that more hens will be needed but have had difficulty in finding any. Recently, the head monk at a temple in town offered a hen provided that we didn't use her or her offspring for meat. His condition isn't a problem to us because we are interested only in eggs and he is fine with that. However, the hen is sitting on eggs. He and my wife intended to gather the hen and her eggs and move them to our flock at home.

I have suggested that this would lead to the eggs being abandoned and, perhaps, the hen might disappear. I just wonder, though, whether the monk and my wife no more then I do and the move would be successful.

Any advice on this would be welcome, please.

 

[Y N dottes]

im not 100% sure, but i think the move would be o.k.

 

[sourland]

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. A lot depends upon the nature of the hen and her broody experience. Calm experienced hens tend to set 'tighter' than flighty young hens. If you do move her, I would recommend doing so after dark. Place her and her eggs in a crate with a well formed nest. Cover the crate with a blanket so that it will remain darkened in the daylight. Place the crate in a relatively small or restricted place so that when you free her she can't roam far. Good luck if you make the attempt.

Why not allow her to hatch her eggs where she is setting and then move her?

 

[thaiturkey]

Many thanks for the prompt advice, folks.

I had occurred to me that we could move her with her newly hatched chicks when the time came, provided that the temple was prepared to let them go too. What might be the risk of her running away with them, Sourland? She wouldn't accept a coop and, if she ran away with the chicks, they would all be pray to dogs. There will be snakes in the rough grass at the moment too. Perhaps the company of similar birds would encourage her to stay.

 

[thaiturkey]

I just got an update on this.

The temple grounds where the banties hang out were flooded by rainwater the other day and the hen abandoned her eggs. The monks have taken them to eat. That seemed to be an opportunity to catch the hen but, as the birds are almost wild and roost in the trees, it would be almost impossible.

So, it seems that we now have to wait until she or another hen has eggs and decide then either to take them at that point or wait for the eggs to hatch.

 

[Y N dottes]

Well, the best of luck in the future then....

 

[thaiturkey]

.. to be continued!

Thanks for the advice.

 

[devora]

I just read this from beginning to end (late to the party) and feel like I was in a little mini-drama. It was wonderful!

Our hero has agreed to the monk's terms. But would the bird sit if removed from the temple? Stay tuned...

In the cover of night the hen could be taken by our trusty hero if he is stealthy enough. Stay tuned....

What's that, rain drops? Flood! The monks must eat the eggs and now the mom has gone rogue again! Stay tuned...

Who needs HBO when we've got BYC? ))