broody

[mtminstrel]

One of my hens went broody 4 days ago. Yea. Yesterday I set up a place in a separate stall from the others put in a nesting box. lots of hay, food and water and after dark my husband and I went and moved her. 13 eggs...boy was I surprised. This is my first flock. anyway this morning I went to let the others out and she was out of her box and when I felt the eggs they were cold. I tried to coax her back in but she came out again. Should I be concerned or do something different? thanx judy

 

[pontoosuc]

Is there a problem to just put the eggs back whee they were? You can then wait till they hatch and move them. Apparently your chickens like the location to have laid 13 eggs!

I let mine stay in their nesting box until hatch, give them a day until all are hatched, then move them into the brooder area.

They don't have to be under a hen for the entire 21 day duration. Some hens get up, eat, drink, poop, dust bathe etc., then go back to the eggs.

It's an amazing piece of nature to watch, you are very lucky. Have fun.

I've had two hatches this summer from one broody, 8 scheduled to hatch this Friday under my 2nd broody, and I have 3 others sitting on golf balls!! Guess I need to find some more fertile eggs since we don't have a rooster!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Or you could give her time to settle into her new spot then slip her the eggs. I move my broodies to a wire bird cage. They usually aren't too happy about it at first and make a big fuss, but then the settle down and I give them back their eggs. I don't like my broodies sitting in the nestboxes. They seem to forget where their original nest was, other hens lay new eggs into the clutch, and alot of times the eggs get broken from other hens squeezing in to add their eggs. Good luck!

 

[mtminstrel]

Well the box she was originally in is at least 3 feet off the ground. I don't want the chicks to fall out and break their necks or be bothered by the other hens or rooster. what do you guys think about that?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I would be worried about them falling from that high, but chicks are some tough little critters and as long as you have a good layer of bedding they would probably be alright. I separate my broodies into a wire cage on the coop floor, that way everyone still gets to see each other. They just aren't able to disturb mom while she's working. After a few days my broodies are usually ready to leave the cage, so i take the door off. That way they can still nest in it at night, and they usually use the nest for a couple of weeks until they're ready to go to the roost. Good luck!

 

[mtminstrel]

Thank you everyone for your help. After the chicks are born...crossing fingers...and I figure out how to upload a picture on here I will do so. Thanx again judy

 

[LovinChicknFarmn]

My hen hatched out 5 chicks in June and we waited (sort of by accident) until the last minute to move her. We were unprepared. I was worried too that the babies would fall. You can probably leave the eggs where they are and see if she'll get back on them or you can put them back where she had them originally and wait to separate until closer to hatch date, but I don't think the location makes a difference to be honest with you. My hen got up daily to eat/drink/go out into the run. The eggs will be fine if she gets back on them. They usually know better than you what to do. I'd wait and watch her to see if she gets on them again. I just started a blog about our hens and wrote a post about our first hatch if you want to read it: http://lovinchicknfarmin.blogspot.com/
It might be helpful. Good luck!