Setting hen

[sbds090661]

One of my hens is setting on some eggs. How long does it take before they start hatching? She decided to do this outside my outdoor pen I have set up for my chickens. My concern is wild predators and my dogs will kill the chicks once they hatch and discover them. What should I do? Move her & the eggs into a outdoor cage for safety or leave her alone? Not sure what to do. New at raising chickens (a little over a year). None of my hens had done this before.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Do not begin counting the elapsed days until the hen has been on the nest for 24 hours straight. After 24 hours have elapsed that is the end of the first day.

21 days will elapse before you get any sign of life.

There is no good answer but if you move or monkey around with the eggs she MAY forsake or abandon the eggs.

 

[chickens really]

I move my Hens and eggs all the time with zero issues...I set up a brooder area in my garage with food and water...I build her a nest and put the eggs in..I then put my Hen in and leave her alone to settle on the nest....I just did this again on Friday...

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC @sbds090661!

You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? She may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It's a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[sbds090661]

Do not begin counting the elapsed days until the hen has been on the nest for 24 hours straight. After 24 hours have elapsed that is the end of the first day.

21 days will elapse before you get any sign of life.

There is no good answer but if you move or monkey around with the eggs she MAY forsake or abandon the eggs.

Thank you for the information. Abandonment of the eggs was what I was afraid of.

Welcome to BYC @sbds090661!

You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? She may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It's a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

Thanks for the info., but She has already had the eggs about a week ago, been setting on them since, continuously. I want her to hatch them out safely. Right now it isn't safe. It's only a matter of time.

 

[sbds090661]

Do not begin counting the elapsed days until the hen has been on the nest for 24 hours straight. After 24 hours have elapsed that is the end of the first day.

21 days will elapse before you get any sign of life.

There is no good answer but if you move or monkey around with the eggs she MAY forsake or abandon the eggs.

Thank you for the info. Yes, abandonment of the eggs is a big concern with me as well as safety.

 

[TheWyandotteStripey]

Stripey, my wyandotte is setting eggs right now. She's sitting on roughly nineteen and refuses for me to lessen the load a bit. She is a good mother who has on eggs before and hatched out some chicks. Prefer a dark and calm place so I set up a dog carrier with no door and put her eggs in there when she thought the horses feed bowl was the best place to raise the chicks. Now she is almost two weeks along.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some of us have hens that hide nests and hatch without issue, but it is always possible a predator could find the hen and eggs. It's not just a matter of time but it is a possibility. It's possible your dogs would enjoy playing with those squeaky toys and kill them, it's possible they won't. A wild animal may find her before or when she hatches or they may not. From my experience most of the time the hen is successful with a hidden nest but there are definite risks.

The risk of moving her is that she does not accept the move and breaks from being broody. There are some things you can do that can reduce that risk.

Can you build a shelter than fits over her nest? Make it big enough so you can feed and water her and give her room to poop, but keep other critters out. Usually they hide a nest where this is really difficult.

You can build a predator proof pen or in a predator proof place with a nest and room to put food and water, plus room to poop, but don't make it real big. Make it so you can lock her in the pen so she cannot go back to her old nest. Make sure the nest isn't an oven because of the sun. I find it's best to make the new nest pretty dark, dark seems to settle them more. I move mine at night and lock them in that nest almost the entire next day. Let her out of the nest a little before dark. A broody hen is used to spending that kind of time on a nest so it isn't being cruel. When you open the nest so she can get out into her pen to eat and drink be patient. She may pace for a while but if she can't get back to her old nest she just might accept the move even if she initially paces. Most that I've seen don't pace but some do.

Some people may consider this overkill and it is. Often you can move the hen without a big problem even during the day as long as you lock her in the pen. But I find that moving them at night, making the nest dark, and locking them in the nest for most of the next day all help your odds of success.

Good luck!

 

[sbds090661]

Some of us have hens that hide nests and hatch without issue, but it is always possible a predator could find the hen and eggs. It's not just a matter of time but it is a possibility. It's possible your dogs would enjoy playing with those squeaky toys and kill them, it's possible they won't. A wild animal may find her before or when she hatches or they may not. From my experience most of the time the hen is successful with a hidden nest but there are definite risks.

The risk of moving her is that she does not accept the move and breaks from being broody. There are some things you can do that can reduce that risk.

Can you build a shelter than fits over her nest? Make it big enough so you can feed and water her and give her room to poop, but keep other critters out. Usually they hide a nest where this is really difficult.

You can build a predator proof pen or in a predator proof place with a nest and room to put food and water, plus room to poop, but don't make it real big. Make it so you can lock her in the pen so she cannot go back to her old nest. Make sure the nest isn't an oven because of the sun. I find it's best to make the new nest pretty dark, dark seems to settle them more. I move mine at night and lock them in that nest almost the entire next day. Let her out of the nest a little before dark. A broody hen is used to spending that kind of time on a nest so it isn't being cruel. When you open the nest so she can get out into her pen to eat and drink be patient. She may pace for a while but if she can't get back to her old nest she just might accept the move even if she initially paces. Most that I've seen don't pace but some do.

Some people may consider this overkill and it is. Often you can move the hen without a big problem even during the day as long as you lock her in the pen. But I find that moving them at night, making the nest dark, and locking them in the nest for most of the next day all help your odds of success.

Good luck!

Thank you for the info., but I know for a fact my dogs will kill them as soon as they discover them. My dogs have killed some of my ducklings, baby rabbits and chicks over time. I gave her food & water yesterday, and she has made it quite clear she does not want to be disturbed. I will move her and her chicks into a cage as soon as they are hatched out. She was in a pen, but she flew over the fence to brood just outside the pen in a quiet shaded spot. Yes, I do clip my chickens winds, but as soon as they are able to get over the fence, they do.