Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Hen Won't Accept Hanging Nest

Sandy was upset today! No matter where she hangs the nest, this Columbus Fancy Hen removes the nesting material and places it in the bottom corner directly on the wire! "This is never going to work" she scolds the hen.

Some hens get an idea on their nest placement and they will fight you day after day. So what do you do?

Exactly what she wants!

 Sandy placed the clay nest, inside another bowl which she also lined with a nest liner to make it steady should the couple try to mate on the nest. Good Job Sandy!

 Immediately, Momma is Happy! If Momma is not Happy, no one is Happy!


Happy couple looking forward to raising a family!

I planted this fragrant pansy basket about a month ago with Lucky Dog potting soil! Never have I had so many blooms! Lucky Dog contains beneficial microbes and earthworm casting and is expensive but worth every penny or should I say dollar? Actually, I am making a large bag go a long ways!

I told my farmer brother Larry about it and he said it uses the same principle as no-till farming where beneficial microbes in the mix attach to the roots and allow the plant to take in more nutrients!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi how old should my chicks be before putting another pan in for second clutch.

Linda Hogan said...

I like to put in extra nests around 14 days if male is in the cage as extra empty nests encourages the hen to mate and start a new clutch which is fine if the male is taking over feeding. If she is by herself, I like to wait till chicks are bigger like over 18 days as they will be leaving the nest then. Having the CeDe Handrearing food available and they will start eating on their own. Then she can start a new clutch.

Brian Rowe said...

One of my cocks is trying to incubate the eggs. Yesterday and today he was hunkered down deeply in the nest, with the hen setting on top of him. Obviously, he does not have a brood patch. Are the eggs likely to hatch if incubated by a cock?

Brian Rowe said...

Linda, is it okay to let the cock incubate the eggs? One of my cocks is intently snuggling into the nest on the eggs all day.

Linda Hogan said...

No it is not ok for the cock to incubate the eggs. Remove him.

Linda Hogan said...

The point is to make sure the membrane on the large stays moist. Of course, rotation will not fix that if the shell is too thin.

I usually have the egg laying on its side and rotate so that the other side is down. If an egg is large end up, I rotate is so its down.