ALABAMA!!

[RedneckGurl]

So, another new question here - if you have a hen that is wanting to go broody but all of your nest boxes are in the coop and wide open, can you relocate her and her eggs somewhere else and she'll still sit on them or will she abandon them? I have one RIR that is in the nest box every night when I go out to close up the run and I have to shoo her out. She will eventually get up on a roost but she's back again the next night. I'm not set up with a separate place to house a sitting hen just yet. Will it be okay to let her sit on the eggs in the regular coop until I can get a protected and separate area set up for her and the future babies? I just have no idea. I really hadn't ever planned to let a hen go broody but after reading so much about how it's a great, inexpensive way to add to your flock, I'm considering it.

 

[tmoore8595]

So, another new question here - if you have a hen that is wanting to go broody but all of your nest boxes are in the coop and wide open, can you relocate her and her eggs somewhere else and she'll still sit on them or will she abandon them? I have one RIR that is in the nest box every night when I go out to close up the run and I have to shoo her out. She will eventually get up on a roost but she's back again the next night. I'm not set up with a separate place to house a sitting hen just yet. Will it be okay to let her sit on the eggs in the regular coop until I can get a protected and separate area set up for her and the future babies? I just have no idea. I really hadn't ever planned to let a hen go broody but after reading so much about how it's a great, inexpensive way to add to your flock, I'm considering it.

Is your hen broody or just roosting in the nest box? If she is broody she will stay in the nest box all day, not just at night.

 

[RedneckGurl]

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Well, I'm not home during the day as I work a full time job. I see them in the morning when I go out to feed and clean the coop. She's always the first one in the nest boxes after I feed them in the morning and she's there when I check on them at night. I can only assume that she's staying in there most of the day. I've had her for over six months and she's never even tried sleeping in the nest box until recently.

 

[Dylon]

Maybe she is semi broody?? Like, maybe she is strongly considering becoming a mother??

Well, I'm not home during the day as I work a full time job.  I see them in the morning when I go out to feed and clean the coop.  She's always the first one in the nest boxes after I feed them in the morning and she's there when I check on them at night.  I can only assume that she's staying in there most of the day.  I've had her for over six months and she's never even tried sleeping in the nest box until recently.

 

[Wisher1000]

Just mark the eggs you want her to hatch and leave them in the nest box. The other hens may lay their eggs there and those need to be collected each day (just take out the ones that are not marked daily.) Set up a place for her to brood and raise the chicks and then try to move her. Some hens will tolerate a move, some won't. Try moving her at night, and with as little stress as possible. I have cardboard boxes in all of my nest boxes so that I can move them without taking the hen off the eggs. Once she is in her new box, it may help to keep it dark for a day or so, and to watch her closely. She will either pace the run area and refuse the new nest, or she will settle into the new nest because she can't get back to the old one. If she can go back to the original location, she will.

 

[RedneckGurl]

Maybe she is semi broody?? Like, maybe she is strongly considering becoming a mother??
Quote:
I don't have any idea Dylon. I've only been a chicken mother for about eight months now and this is the first hen I've had who appears to be going broody on me so I'm in uncharted territory. They all were purchased as grown birds so they are all over a year old, some as old as three years but they've only been with me for eight months.

 

[Dylon]

I don't have any idea Dylon.  I've only been a chicken mother for about eight months now and this is the first hen I've had who appears to be going broody on me so I'm in uncharted territory.  They all were purchased as grown birds so they are all over a year old, some as old as three years but they've only been with me for eight months.

I have had some semi broody. It could go either way.mine have acted like that before and some decided to sit on them full time, and some shook it off and went on with theirs business

 

[RedneckGurl]

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She was out eating with the rest of them this morning but my husband said she was already in the nest box when he checked on them early in the evening yesterday and she was still there when I checked about an hour after dark. I've decided to just quit shooing her out and let her stay there for the time being. I'll see what happens with her. She is one of my favorites and if there's a way I can pull it off, I'd like to see if she could hatch a few eggs. I just have to come up with a place to put her that's out of the general population but still protected from our erratic weather. This weekend they've even predicted possible tornadoes due to some unseasonably warm (mid 70's) weather coming our way. That just makes me feel all kinds of nervous. I was alone and smack in the middle of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes that devastated the Huntsville area (7 hours of hell on earth) and I still have a little PTSD when I hear about them maybe coming our way.

 

[Crickett]

Know what you mean! I live real close to Phil Campbell and Hackleburg. Both came close to being wiped off the map!

 

[Dylon]

She was out eating with the rest of them this morning but my husband said she was already in the nest box when he checked on them early in the evening yesterday and she was still there when I checked about an hour after dark.  I've decided to just quit shooing her out and let her stay there for the time being.  I'll see what happens with her.  She is one of my favorites and if there's a way I can pull it off, I'd like to see if she could hatch a few eggs.  I just have to come up with a place to put her that's out of the general population but still protected from our erratic weather.  This weekend they've even predicted possible tornadoes due to some unseasonably warm (mid 70's) weather coming our way. That just makes me feel all kinds of nervous.  I was alone and smack in the middle of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes that devastated the Huntsville area (7 hours of hell on earth) and I still have a little PTSD when I hear about them maybe coming our way.

Have you observed her picking fights with the other hens? Or avoiding mating with the roo?

I have noticed in my pen, when a hen is broody, and all grumpy, that when she would walk around the pen, other hens would pick on her. I also noticed them going to the nest box just to check on the broody, and pester her some more. (I have even seen them hop up to her box, and just stare at the broody.