broody chicken w/eggs won't cooperate

[kbarnell]

when my hen went broody I added a couple much fertilized eggs under her because I was told that she needed a clutch before she was ready. so I made her a new nest in a smaller coop, fresh bedding with water & food available & penned her off from the rest of the chickens. She stayed there for a couple of days then one day just up & decided to go back to her old nesting box. I took the eggs & one by one put them in front of her and she shoved them under her. She's been sitting there for about 10 days...i hardly see her get out to eat or drink. The nesting box is 2 feet off the ground...what's going to happen when the chicks hatch? do I separate her and her babies again? She got off her eggs one day for about 5 hrs...will this have hurt the chickies?

 

[JaeG]

If you want to separate her to somewhere more chick friendly you will have to move her at night so she has all night on her new nest and wakes up thinking she's been there all along. And make sure she cannot see her old nest/coop or run as she will try to get back to it. A hen attaches to a nest site not to eggs.

If you decide to leave her where she is you will have to net her in once the chicks are due to hatch because if they fall out of the nest they won't be able to get back and, if you don't find them in time, they will get chilled and die (or found by another, less chick loving hen who won't take kindly to the intrusion of an unknown individual).

5 hours isn't that long to be off eggs. Eggs are amazingly resilient. You could candle the eggs to see how they are doing (I've found the flashlight on my mobile phone is nice and bright for that job). Once the eggs are near hatching she won't get off them at all. Once the chicks hatch you can offer her some food and water at her nest site so she can start teaching the chicks what to do. She will stay put with the chicks for about 48 hours before taking them out for the first time, though you may need to lift them down at that stage if you leave them where they are. Hope that's helped a bit.

 

[kbarnell]

what do you mean by net them off? what would happen if i moved her bucket & close her into the winter part of the coop? it's where she grew up. she normally doesn't go in there very much but it would be a safe place for the chickies

 

[JaeG]

I meant put some wire over the front of the nest to stop chicks falling out. But if you can put her somewhere safer that's probably the best solution. Move her once it's dark and make sure she can't see her old nest site - put a board or some cardboard up if necessary to block her view. You can give her her own food and water a little way away from her nest so she has to get off to have a snack or drink (or poop). I hope her eggs hatch for you! It's so sweet seeing a mother hen interacting with her chicks.