My hen is laying

[Austin81]

So my hen has started to lay which I believe to be her first cluch. They are indoors right now and the male has been displaying to her and has mates her. SHOULD I leave the eggs in with her or should I incubate ? This is my first time with pheasants how many will she lay before she becomes broody if she does ? Thanx for your help.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Austin,

It would be best to incubate the eggs. In the many years that I have raised pheasants, only a handful ever went broody. Most didn't stay on the clutch long enough to hatch them, they would quit half way through or at the very end 4 or 5 days before hatching.
The ones that did hatch them, didn't know how to take care of the chicks after hatching.
It varies from hen to hen but usually they will lay between 6 to 13 eggs (clutch) before setting on the eggs. If you collect them for incubating, you get more eggs than if you allow them to hatch their own....plus, they aren't known to go broody that often, like chickens do, especially ring necked pheasants.

 

[Austin81]

Oh really ? That kinda sucks I was hoping for a more natural hatch because I want to be able to release some at my bush lot property when there old enough lol. How long can you collect before you have to put them in the incubator ?

 

[007Sean]

I don't like to let them sit (collect) for longer than 10 days, after that fertility drops drastically. Ideally, I set eggs once a week.

 

[Austin81]

Ok the longest I can wait is 10 days ? How can you tell if she is going to be broody ? And IF she happens to be will the male be a problem ? Sorry for all the questions I can’t seem to find much answers online. This is a pic of her nest so far.

 

[007Sean]

You won't know if she's going to be broody until she goes broody....there's no way to tell by just looking at the hen.
It is best to seperate the cock bird from the hen if she does go broody. Sometimes he will harrass her so much she will leave the nest to get away, he may also kill the chicks when they hatch.

How big is your pen that they are currently inhabiting?

 

[Midnightman14]

I've only had a couple hens go broody on me out of dozens of pheasants that I have kept. Even if they do go broody there is a high rate of clutch abandonment because they don't like to be disturbed.

 

[Austin81]

You won't know if she's going to be broody until she goes broody....there's no way to tell by just looking at the hen.
It is best to seperate the cock bird from the hen if she does go broody. Sometimes he will harrass her so much she will leave the nest to get away, he may also kill the chicks when they hatch.

How big is your pen that they are currently inhabiting?

Hey Sean. Thanx for all that info it’s really helpful. The actual size of there pen isn’t huge yet as there inside but will be much bigger come spring. But it’s also not a tiny box lol I don’t know the dimensions because I can find a tape measure lol but I’ll post pics of it so you can get an idea. In the last pic you can see she has her best just inside the house around the corner.

 

[Austin81]

You won't know if she's going to be broody until she goes broody....there's no way to tell by just looking at the hen.
It is best to seperate the cock bird from the hen if she does go broody. Sometimes he will harrass her so much she will leave the nest to get away, he may also kill the chicks when they hatch.

How big is your pen that they are currently inhabiting?

Hey Sean. Thanx for all that info it’s really helpful. The actual size of there pen isn’t huge yet as there inside but will be much bigger come spring. But it’s also not a tiny box lol I don’t know the dimensions because I can find a tape measure lol but I’ll post pics of it so you can get an idea. In the last pic you can see she has her best just inside the house around the corner.

I've only had a couple hens go broody on me out of dozens of pheasants that I have kept. Even if they do go broody there is a high rate of clutch abandonment because they don't like to be disturbed.

Midnightman14 Thanx man that’s good to know my hen can be some what skittish

 

[007Sean]

The reason she is laying and they are mating now, is because they are inside. This is not their normal time for breeding. At your location, I wouldn't expect them to start breeding until late May or early June.