hens nesting ?

yoteslayer77

New member
Can any one please tell me if the hens fly up to roost or sit on their nests at night? I should probly know this, but i dont. Just wanting to know for curiosity sake. Thanks.
 
while the the hen is laying eggs she is roosting in trees.but once they hatch shell lay up with the brood until they are able to fly. i beleive about a week and a half to two weeks.
 
The hen will roost in the trees while she finishes laying her clutch. Once she has laid enough eggs, she is pretty much nest bound except for short forays for food and water in the day time. She will be on the nest all night long keeping the eggs warm. Then once they hatch, she will stay on the nest keeping them safe and warm until they can fly up. More like 6 to 8 weeks as it takes that long for their feathers to develop.
cb
 
I saw an old hen that had her back torn apart from some sort of predator as she sat the nest. She was still alive and still sitting on the nest when I came across her. She looked in really bad shape... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Correct, unless it gets too late in the year. I've walked up on hens on the nest and been witness to their "wounded bird" antics as they tried to get me to follow them away from their clutch of eggs. They'll drag one wing and put and whine while they "cripple off" trailing the wing to get your attention away from the nest.
 
They roost in trees except while incubating and till the young can flutter in lower branches.
if they are still laying they will not return to a nest if it is destroyed or she is spooked off of it, she will renest somewhere else, if they are setting they will return. they have to hatch the clutch and raise them big enough to servive the winter, if they're nest is broken up while they are setting, they will not nest again as there isn't enough time to relay, incubate and raise the polts up big enough before winter sets in.
RR
 
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