- Apr 18, 2014
- 5
- 0
- 7
Bear with me, I'm new to this and may ask dumb questions
5 days ago I was given a rooster and a hen, they are game birds. I don't know if it pertains to any of my questions but she is what the previous owner called pure Hatch, and the roo is a mix of Hatch and something else.
I don't know how old they are, but the hen is laying. She gave us an egg the day after we got them
The previous owner suggested I let the eggs collect for 2 or 3 weeks, he was pretty sure she'd go broody and sit. Sounded good to me, I know I want more chickens and eggs!
Anyway, my problem is that my rooster is rolling the eggs out of the nest at night and sleeping in it. He only rolls them out a little, I looked in on them last night and I could see the eggs peeking out from under his neck feathers. They are both sleeping in the boxes instead of on the roost. I'm pretty sure the problem there is that in this coop (pre fabricated, wish I'd known better!) the perches are EVEN with the nesting boxes and are located right in front of the nesting boxes. So, why perch when a few inches over there's a nice warm nest I guess. The hen rolls all of the eggs back into the nest when she's ready to lay a new one.
I've read that I should try to put them on the perches at night, and I guess I can try it but the way the coop is designed it would be really difficult. I have no idea how they'll react to being handled either.
I guess I'm just wondering if I should worry about the eggs. I don't want them getting broken or getting too warm while being slept on before she's ready to sit. Will they go bad if he's laying on them? At least he isn't sitting directly on them, but still, he's sleeping on them all night, they're getting some warmth for sure.
5 days ago I was given a rooster and a hen, they are game birds. I don't know if it pertains to any of my questions but she is what the previous owner called pure Hatch, and the roo is a mix of Hatch and something else.
I don't know how old they are, but the hen is laying. She gave us an egg the day after we got them
The previous owner suggested I let the eggs collect for 2 or 3 weeks, he was pretty sure she'd go broody and sit. Sounded good to me, I know I want more chickens and eggs!
Anyway, my problem is that my rooster is rolling the eggs out of the nest at night and sleeping in it. He only rolls them out a little, I looked in on them last night and I could see the eggs peeking out from under his neck feathers. They are both sleeping in the boxes instead of on the roost. I'm pretty sure the problem there is that in this coop (pre fabricated, wish I'd known better!) the perches are EVEN with the nesting boxes and are located right in front of the nesting boxes. So, why perch when a few inches over there's a nice warm nest I guess. The hen rolls all of the eggs back into the nest when she's ready to lay a new one.
I've read that I should try to put them on the perches at night, and I guess I can try it but the way the coop is designed it would be really difficult. I have no idea how they'll react to being handled either.
I guess I'm just wondering if I should worry about the eggs. I don't want them getting broken or getting too warm while being slept on before she's ready to sit. Will they go bad if he's laying on them? At least he isn't sitting directly on them, but still, he's sleeping on them all night, they're getting some warmth for sure.
