How do I Move a Broody Hen w/Eggs?

[Bukbuk Betty]

I have tried twice to move my hen and her eggs but she end right back to her original nesting spot. Today one of the chicks made her first pip! There are 3 eggs total but one may not have developed.

Anyways, my idea today was to take an old plastic tote I made into a brooder for chicks from the feed store. I cut a large rectangle from the lid and stapled chicken wire underneath so it's open on top but inaccessible. Once the lid is on, it's a great little brooder and now, a nesting box that sits in the same spot that my hen went broody. I put her in there with the eggs and she nuzzled then under her, good sign I think! I placed a shallow water dish in there with her too.

Hopefully I will have some babies tomorrow running around in there!

How was the rest of your hatch with the stubborn broody??

 

[ericadenise]

It worked out perfect! I moved the makeshift brooder box to my small coop and integrated the the two chickens from there to the main house. A couple days later and I have two babies! Welcome Twinkie and Pepper

 

[Coach C]

I have decided to build a divider in my coop and create a second exit. I framed in the bottom like I said I was going to do earlier. This allows her to have inside area, outside run area, and keeps her and the babies away from everyone, but close enough to be seen and smelled. I will post pictures when I finish the divider, and hopefully of some babies! As of Sunday, she was on 17 and all 17 showed progression when candled.

 

[Lindarelle]

I just discovered this thread, great ideas. I have a broody GLW and I gave her 4 eggs. She's been sitting them 4 days now. What's funny is that the other chickens will come and lay beside her, lay their egg, and leave. She snuggles their eggs with hers. I have four nesting boxes that are about a foot off the ground, but still they choose to lay their eggs on the floor of the coop. So that's where she is. My question is this: is one foot too high to move her to? The floor of the coop has about three inches of sand with a layer of shavings on top. If the babies fall out, would that be ok far to fall? Everybody seems to be getting along just fine where she is, but I wonder what will happen once the babies hatch.

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

I just discovered this thread, great ideas. I have a broody GLW and I gave her 4 eggs. She's been sitting them 4 days now. What's funny is that the other chickens will come and lay beside her, lay their egg, and leave. She snuggles their eggs with hers. I have four nesting boxes that are about a foot off the ground, but still they choose to lay their eggs on the floor of the coop. So that's where she is. My question is this: is one foot too high to move her to? The floor of the coop has about three inches of sand with a layer of shavings on top. If the babies fall out, would that be ok far to fall? Everybody seems to be getting along just fine where she is, but I wonder what will happen once the babies hatch.

Hi! I'm new to the broody hatch also but most of the books/online reading I did suggested it's best to move her with her eggs, at night, to her own private space. Like a dog kennel with her own feed /water/nest. That way:
A)when chicks hatch there is no falling out of the nest or other hens to peck at them
B)chicks can have their own crumble without other hens gobbling it up
C)other hens can't add new eggs when incubation/setting has already started on the main clutch
D)other hens can't climb in and risk cracking the eggs
E)the setting hen is less likely to abandon her nest or start sitting somewhere else if that's her only option.

That's the summary of what I have read, and is what I have gone with. So far I have a successful broody mama on my first clutch,but perhaps some more experienced folks can chime in! My hen had picked her original spot 3' off the ground, and the other hens kept sneaking in with her to lay their eggs!

The "Old Fashioned Broody Hatch A Long" thread has a ton of good tips on this too.

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

[/IMG]

First pic is my broody in her trance in the "new" nest. I moved her at night after moving the eggs first. I carefully pulled all the eggs out from under her and candled them at the same time (day 10) and put them right away into the new nest box. Then I moved the nest box to the dog kennel. Last I moved the hen and gently set her back on her clutch in the new spot. She settled in pretty quick and tucked all the eggs under herself. 2nd pic is yesterday when the hatch started!

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

Sorry, here's the first pic. Not sure why it didn't load before! The day before hatch I cut down the front of the box and added shavings up to it so nobody fell out.

 

[suchcutenails]

I have a newly broody girl...about 2 days. She's in one of my two nesting boxes. I'd like to make her her own spot and move her...maybe out of a dog crate, and probably put it on the floor of the coop? Do you think that will work? I need her to stay in with the other girls.

 

[Beekissed]

Are you sure you want a broody at this time of year? Little chicks with winter coming on can present trouble. If she's only been sitting a few days, you might let her be for about a week to see if she's serious. If she's not serious and you do all these things and move her, she may just decide she didn't want to brood after all.

I give all my broody wannabes a week to decide if they really want to sit~day and night on that nest for a week with either fake eggs or no eggs...it's the worst thing to give her a clutch of eggs, she sits for a few days and gets them started and then she decides she wasn't really that broody after all and returns to roosting with the flock.

Then you have all these eggs with little chicks started and no mama to finish the job.

Right now I have two wannabes who have been proven broodies before and have been sitting each day on the nests for about a week...but they get off the nest real quick when I feed the flock and they return to the roosts each night, so I know they aren't serious about brooding.

 

[ManawaGirl]

@suchcutenails - I have the same situation going on. I have a broody silkie who is due to hatch 4 this Sunday-ish (10-16-16). I had tried to get her to move when she's laid the first one in a hidden spot, but we'd been missing her for 7 days and found her sitting on 4. So now I have a safe quarantine around her. My thinking is to just let her hatch them, then I'll move mom and baby(ies) into the house in a gineau pig cage we've used for the same set up before. She might wind up in the house for a week or two until I know the chicks are going to make it. My dilemma is that I'm in Iowa and I'm super worried the baby silkies are going to be affected if the weather gets horrible quick.