This is my 3rd year letting mama hens do the hatching for me. The broody I have now is less than a year old, half Chantecler/half every other breed I've ever had. She went broody over a month ago but we collected her eggs daily and decided to set some April 5th, according to the Farmers Almanac as being good dates to set eggs. We have a nice little "Addition" to the main coop, where everyone can still see each other, but mama and eggs/chicks are separated from the main flock til the chicks are big enough to integrate with the main flock. Integration has never been a problem. They all are in a HUGE fenced run, with the Addition having a completely fenced and covered run inside the big one.
So we moved her at night on the 5th to one of the boxes in the Addition- which is probably about 2'X3' and 1 side is completely open to the main coop, but separated by chicken wire. She had a clean nest, her own waterer and feed dish next to her nest, so she didn't have to get up. This has worked for all the other broody's I've had. The next morning, she was not on her eggs and they were cold. So we put her back into the main coop. We let her keep 6 new eggs, and she is happily sitting on them in 1 of 5 nest boxes, in the main coop. I will gladly let her continue to sit in the main coop. I'm 9 mos pregnant, and have a broken foot and my hubby only puts up with the chickens because I like them. Her staying in the main coop makes my life easier.
None of the other chickens I have are particularly mean. There are 2 roosters, 12 hens. The hens range from almost 3yrs to almost 1. The 2 roosters were hatchmates of the broody, so they are less than 1 year. The whole flock were raised by broody mamas or have been broody mamas themselves.
Tips for letting them stay in the big coop????? Or tips for moving her to the Addition and getting her to stay on the eggs?
So we moved her at night on the 5th to one of the boxes in the Addition- which is probably about 2'X3' and 1 side is completely open to the main coop, but separated by chicken wire. She had a clean nest, her own waterer and feed dish next to her nest, so she didn't have to get up. This has worked for all the other broody's I've had. The next morning, she was not on her eggs and they were cold. So we put her back into the main coop. We let her keep 6 new eggs, and she is happily sitting on them in 1 of 5 nest boxes, in the main coop. I will gladly let her continue to sit in the main coop. I'm 9 mos pregnant, and have a broken foot and my hubby only puts up with the chickens because I like them. Her staying in the main coop makes my life easier.
None of the other chickens I have are particularly mean. There are 2 roosters, 12 hens. The hens range from almost 3yrs to almost 1. The 2 roosters were hatchmates of the broody, so they are less than 1 year. The whole flock were raised by broody mamas or have been broody mamas themselves.
Tips for letting them stay in the big coop????? Or tips for moving her to the Addition and getting her to stay on the eggs?
