Pen raised hens laying eggs?

[JMO555555]

Would they lay, sit and hatch if I just left them in the pen with the hens or do I need to take the eggs out and incubate them? thanks

[harvey lee]

I raised many pheasants for years. Yes, they will set the eggs if you do not pick them up. Some use clucks to hatch the eggs also.

If you incubate them, they will lay eggs for you for months if you continue to pick them up daily.

I would pick the eggs up daily and store them in egg cartons and set the egg carton on an angle on a cement floor on a 2x4. Every day, I would turn the carton around so the eggs were the other way. I did this until I had more room in the incubator.

Always enjoyed all the peeps from the basement when a hundred or more hatched out during the night.

I hatched out ton's of chick as I had 3 larger incubators. Keep the eggs turned daily if you do not have a automatic turner and keep the temps there and the humidity correct and your hatch will have a pretty high percentage rate.

After the majority have hatched out, you may have some that did not and some that started to try and get out of the shell and were to weak. If you have some eggs that look like the chick cut around the shell most of the way but could not finish the job to get out of the shell, take the shell and open it up to help the chick out.

[Crm7290]

Harvey what did you raise the chicks for?

[harvey lee]

I sold many of them as day old chicks and some I raised and butchered and sold for eating.

I also raised Silver, Golden and Lady Amherst pheasants.

[Crm7290]

I was going to say you could have a lifetime supply of pheasants, never have to even hunt em! I hear they are great eating too.

[LightningBG]

never have to even hunt em!

"HAVE" to hunt them? I thought that was the whole point?

[harvey lee]

I was going to say you could have a lifetime supply of pheasants, never have to even hunt em! I hear they are great eating too.

When I raised birds I still hunted the heck out of them.

[LightningBG]

I'd love to raise some birds, but I wouldn't even know where to start.

[harvey lee]

It's not that hard at all. Raising them from a chick is easy as long as you have the needed temp when they are young.

One also should add blinders to the chicks to stop the picking as some will kill others and it's worse if they are overcrowed.

Hatching them out is pretty easy as long as you follow the temps, humidity and make sure one turns the eggs daily.

If you ever decide to raise some chicks, shoot me an e-mail and I will provide you with all the knowledge I have gained over years on hatching and raising them.