Set 33 eggs Wednesday evening. Not quite as nervous this time as I was for the first hatch, but I'm still pretty nerved up. I plan on candling tomorrow night. Hopefully I see some life.
Now, with that said, today I found one of my hens had gone broody. My nesting boxes are not put together for hatching. They're literally 5gal buckets screwed to the barn wall. Should I build her a better box??? What about the 22 other chickens that are out there with her? Should I make some sort of separate pen?? They totally free range & just go back to their coop at night.
Another issue - it was 20 degrees this morning and we have at least 18" of snow on the ground. Do you think mama hen knows something about the weather that we don't know? I want to let her hatch them, but can't help but wonder if I should snag the eggs when I get a chance and put them in the incubator.
HELP!!!
Now, with that said, today I found one of my hens had gone broody. My nesting boxes are not put together for hatching. They're literally 5gal buckets screwed to the barn wall. Should I build her a better box??? What about the 22 other chickens that are out there with her? Should I make some sort of separate pen?? They totally free range & just go back to their coop at night.
Another issue - it was 20 degrees this morning and we have at least 18" of snow on the ground. Do you think mama hen knows something about the weather that we don't know? I want to let her hatch them, but can't help but wonder if I should snag the eggs when I get a chance and put them in the incubator.
HELP!!!
