How do I Move a Broody Hen w/Eggs?

[dragonchild]

One of my Cuckoo Marans ladies has decided she wants to hatch some eggs! First, she was on a couple of wooden eggs, but I was given a dozen fertilized ones by a friend, and she is now setting them.

They are due to hatch April 26th, and I am building a smaller broodpen w/a ground nestbox, rather than leaving her to defend her babies in the regular pen. The nesting boxes are about a foot off the coop floor, so the babies couldn't go back in, once she gets them out--plus they'd have a bit of a fall to get out.

How do I go about moving mama & eggs before they hatch into the new pen/nesting box with a minimal amount of stress, and how likely is she to abandon her eggs if I do?

Also, does anyone else have Cuckoo Marans, and are they very broody? I've had other breeds and not had a 6-month-old hen decide to go broody in any of them!

 

[Beekissed]

It doesn't really matter how you move her, but it does matter when...if done at night, she will have a whole night of sitting in one spot to get used to the new situation. I've moved them in the day and it seems to upset them to have been moved from the flock and they sometimes abandoned the clutch out of worry.

I like to up end a cardboard box over the new nest with a hole cut out for an entrance, move her after dark and keep her covered and quiet. Moving under cover of darkness seems to be the key..haven't had a hen leave the eggs since doing so.

 

[dragonchild]

Thanks for the good advice, y'all. I've been worrying myself over this! I don't have roosters, so the surprise of Brave Lady going broody, and my friend having hatching eggs at the right time, was great! I'm really looking forward to baby chicks again! (And ones I raised here, not bought from a hatchery!)

 

[Habibs Hens]

i would wait till they hatch then lead her and her chicks in to the new pen

 

[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

 

[scratch'n'peck]

When I moved a broody I made a nest in a box and then removed the eggs out from under the hen. I placed the eggs in the box and then placed the hen on top of it. I carried the whole box to the new enclosure. I don't really know how likely it is she would abandon them. you could wait a little longer to move her perhaps.

 

[mstricer]

i would wait till they hatch then lead her and her chicks in to the new pen

That won't work she will.just lead them back. I usually just leave mine in the coop. When they hatch I move mom and babies to a dog kennel in the coop, at night that way she has a quiet place to take care of them peacefully. She will take them back to the nesting.box once the kennel is removed, but by that time they can fly up to her. You will love watching her take care of them. I have been waiting all spring for my spitz.to go broody, she is clicking and puffing up like she wants to, but I guess there's to much free ranging to do.
Michele

 

[JayJo]

I have a broody cream legbar. She has been on her nest 6 days. I went to check the nest for other hens adding eggs tonight, and she is still very alert and protective even at night. I am about to build her a spot where the other hens and rooster can't get to her. However, I am really worried about moving her. I don't want her to abandon the eggs. I would leave her and keep a watch on the chicks, but I am scheduled to leave town THE DAY she is scheduled to start hatching! I just don't want my grandfather, our pet sitter, to have to worry with them.

I have seen both ways suggested here about moving her. Should I just go in protected from pecks at night and get her moved? Is it too early or too late to move her?

I was in this exact situation a couple of weeks ago.

I built her a ground-level enclosed pen with a little wooden house inside it. I moved her in the late evening when she was sleepy. At that point she'd been sitting on the eggs a few weeks. In my case, she had been disturbed from her nest by another hen trying to lay eggs and was back sitting in the wrong one, so I just moved the eggs and then her. She settled in right away and didn't try to get out of the pen at all (nor could she have anyway.) I had starter crumble, nipple waterers at her height and chick height, and grit in the kennel. Everything she and the chicks would need.

I was camping when the eggs hatched. Which was fine - there's a period of a few days when you shouldn't move or bother them at all anyway. They were fine because they had everything they needed. When I got back, she was out scratching around in the pen with her chicks and they were all doing fine. I cleared out the shells and unhatched eggs and watched them for a day. I decided they were all fine and opened up the pen, and mama and chick integrated well with the rest of the flock. At that point the chicks were probably 4 days old. So at this point they're all integrated and free ranging my yard with everyone else. Mama and babies are doing great.

I'm leaving again for vacation today, will be gone for a month, and have no concerns. They still sleep in the little house I built them, and they can escape into there with mama guarding the door if need be. But they're holding their own, and mama is raising them better than I could. The petsitter will stop by a couple times a week to top off their water and food and make sure all the poop is incorporated into the DLM. My neighbor is stopping by every day to collect eggs. They have free range of my yard during the day, and get closed in at night by an automatic (ADOR) door.

Just sharing all of this because I was really worried, and now, a couple of days post-hatch, all of my worries have been put to rest. Everybody's doing just fine. Hope it helps.

Here's a picture of the pen I built.

 

[Coach C]

I was in this exact situation a couple of weeks ago. I built her a ground-level enclosed pen with a little wooden house inside it. I moved her in the late evening when she was sleepy. At that point she'd been sitting on the eggs a few weeks. In my case, she had been disturbed from her nest by another hen trying to lay eggs and was back sitting in the wrong one, so I just moved the eggs and then her. She settled in right away and didn't try to get out of the pen at all (nor could she have anyway.) I had starter crumble, nipple waterers at her height and chick height, and grit in the kennel. Everything she and the chicks would need. I was camping when the eggs hatched. Which was fine - there's a period of a few days when you shouldn't move or bother them at all anyway. They were fine because they had everything they needed. When I got back, she was out scratching around in the pen with her chicks and they were all doing fine. I cleared out the shells and unhatched eggs and watched them for a day. I decided they were all fine and opened up the pen, and mama and chick integrated well with the rest of the flock. At that point the chicks were probably 4 days old. So at this point they're all integrated and free ranging my yard with everyone else. Mama and babies are doing great. I'm leaving again for vacation today, will be gone for a month, and have no concerns. They still sleep in the little house I built them, and they can escape into there with mama guarding the door if need be. But they're holding their own, and mama is raising them better than I could. The petsitter will stop by a couple times a week to top off their water and food and make sure all the poop is incorporated into the DLM. My neighbor is stopping by every day to collect eggs. They have free range of my yard during the day, and get closed in at night by an automatic (ADOR) door. Just sharing all of this because I was really worried, and now, a couple of days post-hatch, all of my worries have been put to rest. Everybody's doing just fine. Hope it helps. Here's a picture of the pen I built.

JayJo, you are a genius! I was up all night thinking how to build a safe, effective, still close to be included sight and smell wise, place for her and be babies! Thank you so much! I am closing in the bottom under my coop, 4x8 and about 3.5 tall area. Should be perfect!

 

[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.