Nesting hen being harassed

[Nagogx]

Hi. One of our hens was sitting on her nest all day today. In the late afternoon we looked in on her and found another hen on top of her and , as we watched, the intruder tried to grab an egg. Now the thing is, we aren't entirely sure all the eggs belong to one hen. We thought only 1 was laying but a couple of days ago two eggs appeared in the same day. Anyway, the intruder left the nest soon after trying to take an egg. The first bird stayed.

In the evening the hen vacated the nest and went to where they all roost. I have partitioned off the nest area with some pallets which stand about 4ft tall. The hen got over this to get to the roost.

My question is this : since the hen isn't on the nest all the time, and we are unsure all the eggs belong to 1 bird, should we be trying to seperate the 2 hens? Also, should we be keeping 1 bird seperated even though she isn't staying on the nest all the time? Thanks

 

[Kiki]

Do you have a rooster?

Have you checked the eggs to see if they are fertile?

 

[R2elk]

Do you have a rooster?

Have you checked the eggs to see if they are fertile?

Since this was posted in the Turkeys forum, I am assuming that the OP is talking about turkeys thus making the presence of a rooster of no consequence. The presence of a tom is however needed for fertile eggs.

 

[R2elk]

Hi. One of our hens was sitting on her nest all day today. In the late afternoon we looked in on her and found another hen on top of her and , as we watched, the intruder tried to grab an egg. Now the thing is, we aren't entirely sure all the eggs belong to one hen. We thought only 1 was laying but a couple of days ago two eggs appeared in the same day. Anyway, the intruder left the nest soon after trying to take an egg. The first bird stayed.

In the evening the hen vacated the nest and went to where they all roost. I have partitioned off the nest area with some pallets which stand about 4ft tall. The hen got over this to get to the roost.

My question is this : since the hen isn't on the nest all the time, and we are unsure all the eggs belong to 1 bird, should we be trying to separate the 2 hens? Also, should we be keeping 1 bird separated even though she isn't staying on the nest all the time? Thanks

It is not uncommon for more than one hen to lay and even go broody in the same nest. It usually works out badly with broken eggs and dead poults when they hatch and get stepped on because of too much commotion in the nest.

It is best if the hens can each have their own nest.

Your description of the hen sitting on the nest all day and roosting at night sounds like a young hen starting to go broody for the first time. Depending on your nighttime temperatures this isn't good for the eggs and will likely cause a poor hatch.

 

[Nagogx]

It is not uncommon for more than one hen to lay and even go broody in the same nest. It usually works out badly with broken eggs and dead poults when they hatch and get stepped on because of too much commotion in the nest.

It is best if the hens can each have their own nest.

Your description of the hen sitting on the nest all day and roosting at night sounds like a young hen starting to go broody for the first time. Depending on your nighttime temperatures this isn't good for the eggs and will likely cause a poor hatch.

It is not uncommon for more than one hen to lay and even go broody in the same nest. It usually works out badly with broken eggs and dead poults when they hatch and get stepped on because of too much commotion in the nest.

It is best if the hens can each have their own nest.

Your description of the hen sitting on the nest all day and roosting at night sounds like a young hen starting to go broody for the first time. Depending on your nighttime temperatures this isn't good for the eggs and will likely cause a poor hatch.

Thanks for your reply. Last night it was 46 degrees farenheit. Yes she is a young hen, first timer. Is there much we can do to help the situation, or should we take the eggs and hope for a better outcome next time?

 

[Nagogx]

Just a thought...if we completely seperate her in the nest area would that encourage her to stay on the nest?

 

[R2elk]

Just a thought...if we completely separate her in the nest area would that encourage her to stay on the nest?

It might. I never let my turkeys or any of my poultry set nests at this time of year simply because of the cold weather coming. I do let them set nests in the spring after I have taken all the eggs that I want for my incubator.

 

[Nagogx]

We are in New Zealand and it's the beginning of spring. Hopefully not too much more cold weather. I think we will try seperating her. I will go out and check on her during the night to see what she's doing.

 

[R2elk]

We are in New Zealand and it's the beginning of spring. Hopefully not too much more cold weather. I think we will try seperating her. I will go out and check on her during the night to see what she's doing.

Good luck.