broody hen help!!

[Aj1911]

ok i have an RIR hen that went broody so i put some guinea eggs under her

my question is should i move her out of the main coop? the main coop has 17 other hens and they have kicked her of the nest to lay they're own eggs in it a few times. i have my roosters in a separate coop but if i removed her from the main coop i would have to put my roosters back in with the hens and they are a little "active"

i have 2 roosters 1 RIR and 1 GLW they fight over the hens alot when they are out with them and they tend to jump them to much, if i just have 1 out at a time then they are ok.

i candled the eggs today and all i could see is a little air pocket the rest was black, when i candled my other guinea eggs that are fresh they were clear.

 

[detali]

A broody hen should be able to sit on her eggs and not be harrassed by the other chickens. Figure out some way to provide her with that.

Maybe get a big plastic square storage box with a lid on it, dark colored preferred, cut a doorway in one side, put nesting material in it, put it on the floor of your coup in a corner somewhere, put your broody with her eggs in it at night and hang a towel over the door. That way the other chickens can't see her and bother her.

Just make sure that when she comes out to feed and poop she goes back to her box.

 

[shelleyd2008]

You definitely need to do something about the other hens laying in the nest. Do you have a large dog crate?? You could put the broody and her nest in it.

I don't know if you'd have to completely move them, it would really depend on where your broody is in the pecking order. Most broodies will protect their babies very well, but if she is low on the 'totem pole' she might not protect them as well.

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
shes is only below about 3-4 hens out of 17 and we tried that, she stressed to much and wouldn't set on the eggs so after 20-30 mins we put her back in the nesting box.

she really really wants to hatch them in THAT box

so i really dont know what to do here.

i think i might take detali's suggestion and use a storage bin but she might not go back in it and i dont want these last 21days of work to be for nothing.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Is she due to hatch soon? Like in the next couple of days? You can always cover the front of the nest with wire, then just go out there once or twice a day to let her out.

 

[Eggs-Actly]

I took my girl out of the coop. I didn't have the time or the money to build something special for her so I utilized what we had available. Cost me $0. I wrapped an old bath towel up and made a little nest out of it and put it along with some pine shavings in a plastic pet carrier. Then I put that in an upside electric oven box I got by asking a salesperson at the local Scratch n Dent store and cut an access hole in it for easy feeding, cleaning and transporting the girl outside. See, she's in our living room. But the point is you can use whatever you have available so long as she's comfortable.


Here's a few pics:

good luck

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Aw!! She's cute! Is she OEGB? She looks like my Nugget

 

[Eggs-Actly]

Quote:
Aw!! She's cute! Is she OEGB? She looks like my Nugget

No she's a boxer!

She's a BBR we got from another member on these boards. Her and her sister are G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! And thank you

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
today is day 22 of 25 to 28 days it takes for a guinea egg to hatch from candling my guess is 25 days so yea 72 hours and i'll have 8 (hopefully) keets running about

i like this idea the most and i think i'll do that (now if only i could remember where i put the chicken wire

)