Are Broodies always rudie...

[Shadrach]

I do have a Rooster.

Yeah, but the broken egg made a mess and the chickens were mad piling to get it so I had no choice but to scoop up her eggs and set her back on top of them. She did fine. It isn't a big deal if no chicks are hatched, this is my first broody experience so I'm just trying to learn from it and I do try to keep hands off the process as much as possible.

Why the need to separate the hen and eggs from the flock? Will the others kill the chicks?

I think you are doing mostly the right things.
I do not separate from the rest of the flock. If hen has chosen to sit and hatch in the coop with the rest that makes life a lot easier when it comes to integration.
What is very important ime is to make sure the hen gets off the nest once a day to eat,drink, poop and dust bath. A lot of hens will do this on their own, some need lifting off every day.
I don't restrict the broody hens. They can come and go from their nest site at will. If they abandon the nest then my view is they were not ready to be a mum.
Imo it's the hen that is important, not a pile of unhatched eggs. You need to keep the hen healthy, clean fed and watered.
I don't feed broody hens at the nest. Imo it's a terrible mistake. The split food attracts vermin and insects, the hen is less likely to bath to keep herself clean and after 21 days is likely to be weak and underweight. The problem is hens go into a trance when sitting. This trance needs to be broken once a day or they don't eat properly. They will snack at food if it's provided at the nest but that isn't enough.
So, imo the golden rule is get them off the nest once a day to eat drink, poop and dust bath. If they wont do this by themselves then you have to make sure it happens.

 

[Folly's place]

Your other hens will get into her box, or try hard, making it likely that more eggs will be broken, and/ or that eggs set later will not all hatch at once, a bad thing, leading to chick deaths.
Having her in her own space, with her own food and water, and privacy, works best. Then after the chicks are a few days old, integration is safer. Have her out there in or at the coop, just private. I use a big dog crate for this.
Mary

 

[21hens-incharge]

I do have a Rooster.

Yeah, but the broken egg made a mess and the chickens were mad piling to get it so I had no choice but to scoop up her eggs and set her back on top of them. She did fine. It isn't a big deal if no chicks are hatched, this is my first broody experience so I'm just trying to learn from it and I do try to keep hands off the process as much as possible.

Why the need to separate the hen and eggs from the flock? Will the others kill the chicks?

Your other hens will get into her box, or try hard, making it likely that more eggs will be broken, and/ or that eggs set later will not all hatch at once, a bad thing, leading to chick deaths.
Having her in her own space, with her own food and water, and privacy, works best. Then after the chicks are a few days old, integration is safer. Have her out there in or at the coop, just private. I use a big dog crate for this.
Mary

I agree with this very strongly.

And...yes some hens will kill chicks. Sometimes it is the broody hen herself and sometimes a flockmate.

 

[Shadrach]

The points 21hens-incharge and Folly's place make are perfectly valid. I have a different view.
If a hen sets a clutch in a flock coop here she is generally confident about being able to defend her nest. The junior hens and pullets hens tend to nest away from the coops until they've hatched their first clutch. Senior hens can and do hustle junior hens off their nests sometimes. They do this so that the flock stays healthy. Senior hens are senior for a reason and as far as they and nature are concerned it is they who should be hatching the chicks, not some unproven upstart.
In general, a hen that cannot defend her nest from the other flock member wont be able to defend her chicks either.
If a junior hen sets a clutch in a flock coop here then if she can't defend her nest she will lose the eggs. That's what happens in nature. A lot will depend on how much you want to interfere with a process that has been going on for centuries, long before broody coops, cage separation and the notion that we humans know better than the hens.

 

[Bettyboop7499]

The points 21hens-incharge and Folly's place make are perfectly valid. I have a different view.
If a hen sets a clutch in a flock coop here she is generally confident about being able to defend her nest. The junior hens and pullets hens tend to nest away from the coops until they've hatched their first clutch. Senior hens can and do hustle junior hens off their nests sometimes. They do this so that the flock stays healthy. Senior hens are senior for a reason and as far as they and nature are concerned it is they who should be hatching the chicks, not some unproven upstart.
In general, a hen that cannot defend her nest from the other flock member wont be able to defend her chicks either.
If a junior hen sets a clutch in a flock coop here then if she can't defend her nest she will lose the eggs. That's what happens in nature. A lot will depend on how much you want to interfere with a process that has been going on for centuries, long before broody coops, cage separation and the notion that we humans know better than the hens.

I do share this point of view. I don't think I know her process better than she does, as a matter of fact, I think we do more harm than good. We have good intentions though. However, I want strong independent ladies! I feel too much interference can possibly weaken their natural instincts so hands off as much as possible.

 

[Shadrach]

I do share this point of view. I don't think I know her process better than she does, as a matter of fact, I think we do more harm than good. We have good intentions though. However, I want strong independent ladies! I feel too much interference can possibly weaken their natural instincts so hands off as much as possible.

I've just been watching a senior hen hustle a junior hen off a pile of eggs. I'm up to my twenty second case of broodiness this year.
I've taken to letting those I don't want to sit and hatch, sit for three days to make sure their egg laying cycle switches off. This helps give them a rest in the peak laying months and hopefully, may extend their lives a bit. I free range and have a multiple coop system and this allows me to take a course that others may not have the facilities to take. I do intervene at times, I've recently had to lock a broody hens sister out of the coop during the day because they were taking turns in sitting and while no eggs got broken and nobody got hurt, one of the hens hatched some chicks earlier this year and lost two through neglect basically. Not all hens make great mums.

 

[ValerieJ]

So, she is mostl-likely broody. I'm so excited, though I do not know if any eggs are fertile...

If you have a healthy, active rooster there is a good chance they are all fertile eggs.

 

[Folly's place]

In nature, wild jungle fowl live out there in SE Asia, often get eaten, and do have privacy while brooding. Domestic chickens in coops are not the same in many ways, not least in the comparative crowding involved in coop living.
I used to have bantams nest in secret places in my barn, and sometimes it was successful, and sometimes raccoons had both mama and babies. Not a good outcome, IMO.
Mary

 

[Shadrach]

I don't know the details of the keeping arrangements of the OP.
What I'm concerned about is making sure the hen gets the opportunity to eat,drink, poop and bath away from the nest.

 

[21hens-incharge]

To clarify my suggestion of fencing a section off for a broody or using a broody coop.....

This is my broody coop.

Not the best picture but I think you can see it is short and has its own run.

It was built to be able to be set up or taken apart when not needed. Right now it is apart.

I do feel a fenced section in the coop should include outside access.