Our buff Polish has parked herself deep under the patio deck, directly adjacent to the wall of our home, and is sitting on about a dozen eggs.
It took days of her disappearing and showing up again to eat before vanishing like a ghost before I was able to hang out long enough to observe where she'd slip off to.
The space where she has set up her nest is dark, 8' back from the edge of the deck, and only has about 8-10" of clearance from deck boards to ground. It just so happens that the board above her is loose from a prior construction project, so I can easily lift it off to reach her.
I really don't want to end up with he popping out her chicks in that area. there is no way to protect her while she sits there overnight, no way to protect the chicks. And courtesy of the county trapper, we have a "have a heart" trap in the adjoining field to capture foxes that recently decended upon our neighborhood.
My question before I move her to a box with bedding and food/water - what should my expectations be when I do this? I know it is very difficult if at all possible to break them of broodiness. She seems pretty determined. If I move her to a safer place, and place her eggs with her, is it likely she will get back to the business of sitting on her eggs?
It took days of her disappearing and showing up again to eat before vanishing like a ghost before I was able to hang out long enough to observe where she'd slip off to.
The space where she has set up her nest is dark, 8' back from the edge of the deck, and only has about 8-10" of clearance from deck boards to ground. It just so happens that the board above her is loose from a prior construction project, so I can easily lift it off to reach her.
I really don't want to end up with he popping out her chicks in that area. there is no way to protect her while she sits there overnight, no way to protect the chicks. And courtesy of the county trapper, we have a "have a heart" trap in the adjoining field to capture foxes that recently decended upon our neighborhood.
My question before I move her to a box with bedding and food/water - what should my expectations be when I do this? I know it is very difficult if at all possible to break them of broodiness. She seems pretty determined. If I move her to a safer place, and place her eggs with her, is it likely she will get back to the business of sitting on her eggs?