laurieah33
Hatching
Hello Everyone, I am a new member of Backyard chickens. My husband and I live in Delaware. We purchased a new home in February and we inherited 3 hens with the property. I enjoyed them so much that I purchased new chicks in March and now I have a flock of 21. 2 Roos, 17 laying hens and 3 Pekin ducks. I have RIR, Black Astralorp, Dominique, Americana, Delaware Blue Hens and Bantams. I am lucky in that my 2 roosters get along fairly well. They were raised together as chicks, one is a bantam and the other a very large black astralorp. We built a large new coop as the old coop was only big enough for the original 3. Everyone has been settled in the new coop and run for about 3 months now. They free range every afternoon and all return to the coop at dusk. We came home yesterday from 3 days at the beach and my MIL, who was taking care of the flock while we were gone, told us that one of our Bantams had been missing out of the coop at night. My husband found her on of the old nesting boxes used for the old coop sitting on 14 eggs!!!. I am unsure what to do with her. I am worried that she is vulnerable to predators where she is, but I am afraid to move her. All of the eggs are bantam, she seems to be able to cover them all. I am also worried because it is a raised nesting box and I don't want any chicks that hatch to be in danger. Do I leave her where she is and try to construct something around her hoping that the chicks will be safe, or do I try to move her somewhere more secure and take the chance she will abandon the eggs? Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks so much!!
