hens with chicks

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how long does it take for a hen to start laying once she hatches eggs?we have 8 hens either with chicks or sitting on nests, now we are only getting eggs from 2 hens who wont hatch out eggs. one hen was so upset i took her eggs she would hide at night and we finaly found her in the dead center of our field sitting on 8 eggs, she has no protection from anything ,do you think i could move her? she may only have a week to go not realy sure,i thought she had become fox food until i was mowing.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), May 21, 2000

Answers

Your hen in the field, I would definately move. We had one that did that and when we found her along the edge of the woods, we put some chicken wire around her and let her hatch out her chicks protected from skunks, fox, cats, etc.. When the chicks were big enough we let them out. If you move her, you'll probably have to lock her in an area with her eggs or she'll go back looking for the eggs in the field. As for your nesting hens - I have some that do the same thing. They all seem to want to nest! The way we did it was leave one or 2 nesting areas only. The hens kind of continue to lay eggs there now. We marked the older eggs and daily only take the new ones out from under the hen. That leaves most of them happy. If I remember correctly, it took quite a while for my hen to start laying eggs again. Several weeks if my memory serves me right. Don't know if breeds are different in this area or not.

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), May 21, 2000.

The hens with chicks will eventually decide the chicks don't need their protection anymore, usually at 6 to 8 weeks in my experience. Soon thereafter, they will begin to lay again. As far as the field hen is concerned, if you try to move her, she will likely give up on the nest. I too thought one of my best "mamas" was foxfood when she was missing for a couple of weeks. Then she showed up with 13 chicks! If she has survived this long, I wouldn't disturb her, unless she is a prized rare breed or something. She MAY wind up as a predator's supper, but I would bet that she won't, and will bring the chicks to show you soon. GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), May 22, 2000.

I FOUND ONE OF OUR BUFF ORPINGTONS OUT IN THE SNOW THIS PAST WINTER. I HAD BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR HER. I PUT HER IN THE BASEMENT IN A CAGE AND SHE HATCHED THE EGG SHE WAS SITTING ON. SHE WAS OUR ONLY BROODER. LATER THE FOX GOT INTO THE CHICKEN COOP AND WE LOST HER. CHICKENS ARE UNPREDICTABLE. WE HAD CHICKENS SITTING ON DUCKS EGGS AND VISA VERS. WE HAVE A SMALL POULTRY FARM.

-- PRISCILLA WILLIAMS (GP83196@AOL.COM), May 22, 2000.

renee, It has been my experience that the more you try to do something with a sitting hen, the worse she does. The more you just stay far, far away, the better off they are until the eggs are hatched. As soon as they hatch, of course you can put them in a pen or something. Hope this helps. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), May 23, 2000.

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