basic broody-hen-management info?

[patandchickens]

My silly little Maudie, the one SS hen kept for sentiment rather than breeding merit, has decided to go broody. Neither of us has ever done this before, although I've done a couple incubator hatches.

So, is there a good thread(s) or webpage(s) you could recommend that would cover basic (like "for dummies") type information, for what to do when you have a broody hen?

In particular I don't know if I should try to move her now, at not quite a week after she started, or leave her where she is and put up a partition so the other hens and the roo can't get in to bother her; or what.

But really I need a general complete instruction manual

Any suggestions appreciated,

Pat

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Your hen should already have the manual

, if the others aren't bothering her step back and watch her work. One thing we do with broodies is mark the eggs she is sitting on, that way if another hen lays in the nest you can tell the new eggs and take them out.

Steve in NC

 

[pdsavage]

I would either move her or partition her off..you could even use one or 2 laundry baskets http://www.epinions.com/content_94920806020 to separated her and still keep her close to the others...or a pet carrier works also....



http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKBroody.html

 

[patandchickens]

I know you're right, Steve, but don't underestimate my ability to screw things up due to stupidity or ignorance

If (well, I suppose *when*, whenever it is) I separate her, the two most obvious possibilities would be either

a) they're in a 7x20' pen (plus run) right now that still has the top half of the divider in from before I got rid of mentally-defective annoying Roo #2. I could just staplegun the lower half of the divider back in there and presto, she has 7x10' all to herself (albeit with no run access but that shouldn't matter) for as long as she and the chicks want. The nestbox she's in is maybe 2' above the ground but I could make a wide ramp. However, if I do this then the other 6 chickens in the pen are having their indoor space halved, which they'd survive but probably not *like*.

or

b) move her across the aisle into my isolation pen which is 4x6' (no run either).

Or I suppose I could put her in the big wire dog crate, still inside the big sussex pen, but I'm not sure that'd offer any advantages.

Hmmmm. Have to think about it.

Thanks,

Pat