Wild Free Rangers With Babies on the way -- Help

[chickenchick50]

hi, new here, first time posting...hope this is the right place

a while back we acquired 10 game hens and two crossbred roosters. they are all wild and free range. we have shelter for them, an open area with nesting boxes and cover. but basically they roost in trees and bushes at night (that's how they did at the place i got them). they have been doing real good about laying in the nest boxes (i used fake eggs and scratch to attract them to the nest boxes). i was getting about 5 to 7 eggs a day for a while. well just recently two of the hens disappeared for a while. Well i went looking for them this weekend and found one sitting in a bucket in another shed, without any eggs and the other i discovered under a bush at the front of the house with about 10 eggs, after reading on here i guess it takes about 21 days to hatch an egg...so she has been gone as far as I know for at least 7 to 10 days. I really do not want any baby chicks, but i do not want to destroy viable eggs. what are the chances the babies will survive in the open like this? does anyone just have free ranging wild chickens that do as they please.?

I guess for now i have three options, but really need to look into a better facility to care for these birds. I really like them being around and was loving it when it was all going my way.

1. let nature takes it course
2. catch her and put her in a dog crate (will she take to the eggs again if i move them?)
3. catch her and take the eggs from her

ignorants WAS bliss...please help any advice is welcome. I now know i have a lot of work to do to get this flock under control.

 

[txchickie]

I have a flock of bantams (mostly OEGB) that live "wild" here at my house, they roost in the trees at night and free range all day. I have 3 hens with chicks right now, they are 1000% FINE without any help from me, except for chick starter that I keep available for them 24/7. The moms do 100% of the baby chick care, I even had a hen hatch chicks in November when it was getting down into the teens at night. I am very, very lucky to have minimal predators and haven't lost a chick to one yet.

I will say that my roosters are the best dads and truly seem to help the hens raise their babies. The moms are QUICK to let the other hens know to stay back, and within a few days the other hens pay no attention at all to the chicks.

The only thing with taking their eggs/nest is that they will just move it and start another one. They get sneaker and sneakier with their hiding, too. I'd let her hatch the chicks and raise them for about 6-8 weeks, then take the babies and re-home them if you do not want them. A "wild" hen probably won't take well to you moving her nest and more than likely won't take the eggs back after you've moved them and her to another location (like a dog crate).

Honestly, **I** would leave them alone. But that is just what works best for me.