Stray Hen

[StrayHen]

Is she sitting on a clutch? Take one and crack it and see if it's fertile.

I don't know how many eggs there are she's sitting on. There was 1 the day before she starting sitting there.

 

[StrayHen]

Your broody hen is likely to get picked off by a predator if she does not have a secure place to set on her eggs. If you are interested in starting your own flock, you might want to find a source of fertile eggs, and give her a clutch of eggs in a predator and weather proof coop/run set up. In order to be predator proof, her enclosure must not have any openings greater than 1/2" (cover all openings with 1/2" hardware cloth, including a skirt that will keep digging predators out.

If her eggs are fertile, I would love to start my own flock. But I'm worried that every year I go on vacation and nobody will be able to take care of them. Are they capable of taking care of themselves if i leave food and water for 2 weeks?

 

[PollyGirl21]

You could hire someone to check on them while you are on your vacation. As long as you leave enough food and water, they should be fine.
I'm so excited for you! Your own flock!

 

[StrayHen]

You could hire someone to check on them while you are on your vacation. As long as you leave enough food and water, they should be fine.
I'm so excited for you! Your own flock!

you mean a friend right? or did you mean there are professional chicken handlers to be hired?

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Get an incubator and start hatching away... Yee-HAW!!

 

[RWise]

Go out and reach toward her, if she growls at you she is broody.

While she is on this nest if you wish to keep her, put a fence around her with a top.

 

[StrayHen]

Go out and reach toward her, if she growls at you she is broody.

While she is on this nest if you wish to keep her, put a fence around her with a top.

yes I tried to pet her, and she was about to peck me. This morning she seem to have eaten some of the food i placed around her so I think she's ok.

There was already a fence in place. That's why she picked that location in the first place. There's no top but the area is safe since there are just some stray cats that I feed, and an ant eater and skunk that frequent my backyard. I have not seen anything else that might attack her.

 

[ronott1]

Nice way to get into chickens!

Does the neighbor have a rooster?

 

[StrayHen]

View attachment 1501533

Nice way to get into chickens!

Does the neighbor have a rooster?

A rooster flew in about 2 years ago. I don't know if it's still around but i've seen plenty other roosters a few blocks down the street. I don't know how far the chicken travel to get laid tho.

 

[4 ever Orpington]

There are lots of stray cats in the neighborhood so we have been leaving out food and water every morning for them. About a year ago, we noticed a stray hen that comes almost everyday to eat and drink too. We didn't think too much of it, and thought that the hen must be from a neighbor's coop and just out adventuring in the day time. One night we heard her making noise around midnight in the backyard so i followed her and she flew up to a neighbor's tree and I couldn't see her after that, since that tree is in a gated front yard. I thought maybe she was out having too much fun and the coop is now closed so she had to sleep outside for a night.

Fast forward to about a month ago, we found that the hen started laying eggs in our backyard. So each morning she would lay an egg in the same area and in the evening she does not sleep there. We decided to take all but one egg behind each day so that she sees it's still there. So she comes back everyday and lays another.

3 days ago, we noticed that she's now just laying on top of where she lays the eggs and doesn't seem to have moved at all. I tried to place food and water near by and she does not seem to be eating. Is she trying to hatch eggs? or is she sick and trying to die there?