Broody Chicken stuck

[bfree]

Ok, I am ashamed to admit one of my hens went missing. She decided not to roost and went under the porch instead. Then she just vanished. I was sad she was gone, I have looked around for her with no luck. That was nearly 3 weeks ago. I had a feeling she was still around, but no sighs of her. Today, we see little tail feather peeking from under a very awkward part of the porch. We assumed she was 'dead' but come to find out she is fiesty and much alive. But I have no rooster so she has been sitting on eggs for weeks with no purpose. We cannot get he out of her place and she is moving deeper now that we found her. I assume she is moving around at some point but unsure of her 'true' condition.

My Questions are:
What should I do?
Can I switch her eggs to fertilized ones and her continue to lay long enough?
If I do get to her, can I move her to a nesting box?
I don't want her to perish stuck under the porch. any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

Bree

 

[wbruder17]

A net maybe?

You could try to put some eggs under there and keep food and water nearby.

Or try to lure her out with food and water.

Those are my suggestions.

 

[ItsSuzzie]

Hi there, and welcome to BYC. I have Silkies and Showgirls. I have had broody hens, I hatch that way. I do not have electric.

Can you change eggs? Yep I have fake eggs to see if the hen is truely broady, then I change eggs on her and load her up.

When a hen is broady, she will stop laying. My broady hens do not eat much and when they are done boy can they pooh.

Under the porch would worry me, but she can probably get out when she is ready....21 days....good luck.

 

[ItsSuzzie]

Sorry, I more thought...

A hen will steal the eggs from another hen. They will west together and one will lay her egg next to the broady hen so her egg will hatch.

Suzzie

 

[bfree]

Thank you for the response! Since she has been there for several weeks do I have time to give her fertilized eggs? I really don't think I can even gt to her, but it is worth a try. Can I move her if I do get her into a box? Or will she just return under the porch???


Thanks so much!

 

[Judy]

Hopefully she will eventually give up and come out on her own. Since she's already been setting around 3 weeks, I wouldn't try to add fertile eggs at this point. Broodiness is a bit hard on them, they lose weight and muscle tone. The ideal solution would be to slip a few chicks from the feed store under her. She'd think her eggs hatched, and get up and start mothering, almost always, I think. It's certainly worked for me. Might be a bit difficult since she went under further, though. I wonder if she would be drawn out by a few chicks placed where you can reach and she can hear them. Or a favorite treat and then the chicks. They don't necessarily give up just because it's been 21 days. I would probably be out buying chicks.

 

[bfree]

I was able to get her some water, she is not coming out. I am going to try to get some chicks and rip up the porch board. We will see where we end up! Thanks

 

[Judy]

How did this turn out? Did she accept the chicks?

 

[bfree]

I decided to leave her a few more days since I cannot get beneath her. I fed her and got her some water. I am really hesitant to rip up this portion of my porch. Thank you I will keep you posted.

 

[Badbaby05]

I would for sure try the chick thing, or just wait her out. Don't put new eggs under her as she's been on the unfertile ones for so long. Good luck!