Setting Hen

Our chickens seem to set any time they accumulate enough eggs to make it worth their while.  Sometimes a pet sitter forgets to gather the eggs while we are on vacation; sometimes, for some reason, the hens decide to lay under a building somewhere, and it takes us a while to find them.  But whenever the eggs have a chance to mound up in a nest, eventually a hen will settle in on them.
 

Arabella had two nests.

Our favorite hen Arabella decided last June to set under our front porch. By the time we found her, she had two big nests there, each with two dozen or so eggs, and she had settled in on the back one. The wall to her back and lattice around the porch perimeter made her look secure, but any motivated predator could have taken her, given the 21 days she would be confined.  So we decided Arabella had to be moved. 

Moving a setting hen can be disruptive.  Our bird Toodie collected over 40 eggs before we found her under the garden shed and moved her into the coop.  She refused the new nest and a few weeks later, although she was only two years old, she died.  Make of it what you will, but I move my hens reluctantly now.

Arabella refused the new nest, too.  I had just finished framing a new double-wide brood nest on the floor beneath our the laying boxes, and we put her and her eggs inside.  She got off, then back on, then off, then on, and finally off for good.  The eggs cooled, of course, but we left them in the nest.  And, sure enough, a few days later another hen, Number Two, climbed on. 

It didn't matter that the eggs were no longer viable because the rest of the flock would help her rebuild the clutch.  When a hen sets, the others climb right in with her to lay their eggs.  She rocks a little to the side and the eggs roll down under her.  Raising babies becomes a group effort.  When they hatch, the setting hen raises them all as her own.  So, you see, birds of a feather do flock together.

Little Number Two wanted those babies.  She sat on that nest for 30 days, nine more than normal. She had started with about 20 eggs; the old ones rotted and cracked over time, new ones were added, and I am pretty sure the black snake ate more than his share.  She got up only for food and water and to stretch her legs in the chicken yard.  Sometimes other hens stood watch while she was away, but they never got into the nest.  By the time she gave up and walked away, there were only four eggs left, and none was viable. 

As always, we just stayed out of the way.  Number Two made it clear that we were not welcome, and we try not interfere unless there's danger.  So we got no babies this time, but the brood nest is ready now and we are hopeful for spring.