What should I do?!? Nest in my yard.

[WaitingForEggs]

I'm going to try to keep this short, ask for more details if needed please.

I have a tetra tint hen. She "disappeared" about a week ago, I suspected that she was setting on a nest because I hadn't been getting eggs from her in my laying box. I figured she had been hiding them, and had started incubating. I looked all around and couldn't find her.

Fast forward a week to today; my dogs scared her up out of a thicket in the yard and I found her nest, which has 15 eggs. I DO have a rooster, so I'm sure they are fertilized, and now probably 1/3 through incubating. She has not gone back to the next yet.

Questions:
1) Will she go back to the nest? It has been about an hour, how long can the eggs survive without her sitting on them? (It's about 85 degrees outside)

2) Is there a way to move the nest to somewhere safe, so she can finish incubating without being exposed to predators? I don't have an incubater, but I'd like to save the eggs.

Thank you!

 

[bobbi-j]

Put the dogs up for now, stay away from her nest and give her some time. At 85 degrees they won't lose heat that fast. If she goes back to the nest, wait until after dark,then with as little light and commotion as possible you can try to move her. I've moved quite a few setting hens woth various results. The only thing you can do is try. There is no way to know how she'll react until you do.

 

[WaitingForEggs]

Thanks! She's on the nest again now. Do you think I might have better results if I let her settle until tomorrow night before trying to move her? I'll be sure to keep the dogs away.

Also; when I try to move her, can I just make a nest out of hay and put the eggs in there? Or do I need to try to move the entire nest that they are in now?

I am very new to this, so sorry if that seems like a silly question

 

[bobbi-j]

Not a silly question at all! The nests I've moved have been impossible to just pick up the nest and go. I usually put the eggs in a box to move them, set them where I want and hope the broody likes where I put her. (Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't) You might have a better chance of moving her if you wait until tomorrow night, just so she gets settled back in.