Broody Hen - its a MIRACLE!

[buckaroo's wife]

Well, I have had a tough week....I lost 2 hens. I found one dead in my front yard and never found the other one....until TODAY! She's sitting on eggs (I think) under our horse trailer!! Of course, I can't reach her. My husband said he thought he'd seen her out briefly in the yard today (that's why we started searching for her again - I thought she was gone forever!)

SO! We have alot of predators out here (skunks, coons, possums, hawks, owls, dogs, cats....you name it). What do I DO with her? She's not in the coop, darn her, but under our horse trailer which is obviously covered but any skunk could come along and get her. Can I move her? How do I protect her?

HELP!

 

[Suechick]

So sorry you lost your hen

But so great you found a broody!!

I would definitely move her. Are you able to reach her and her eggs?
Generally broodys should be moved at night after dark and given their own space. Some people use a large dog cage or set up a separate nest for her in their coop. If she is nested under your trailer she may try to go back there when she gets up. You'll need to watch out for her and make sure she can find her new nest location.

There are a couple of broody threads going, you can check them out to get more info
I think my broody just got off her nest so I gotta go....

Glad you found her!!

 

[KimberlyJ]

I've never had a broody so I don't know for sure but here's MO. I'd gently move the trailer if possible, catch the hen and move her and all the eggs to a nest somewhere where she would be safe, both from predators and other hens bothering her. I'm sure you would need to have food and water really close by. I'd prepare the nest area first, then move her. She will probably act very stressed for a bit then settle back down. Maybe do it in the evening so she would naturally settle on the eggs for the night.

Good luck, KJ

 

[buckaroo's wife]

Quote:
DH is going to move the trailer just a little so I can get to her. Its almost dusk here, so about now she would be heading into the coop. Is this a good time to move? I'm afraid that moving her will break her broodiness, but I can't leave her out in the open.

We have an enclosed barn/shop (its BIG - plenty of room for her) and I think I will put her in there. She'll be able to roam but the other chickens can't get to her and she couldn't leave. We have a plastic dog house I could set up as a nest with shavings. Right now she's got her nest in a bed of leaves. Should I put leaves in the new nest too?

Of course she does this after I hatched 13 eggs LAST saturday!!!!

 

[Suechick]

yup, they have great timing!

I dont' know about the leaves, I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep them, that would provide some familiarity for her. I think dusk is a good time to move her. When I moved mine at dusk, she kind of freaked out a little since she was in a completely new place. I had to lock her into her new nest area and give her some time to settle. It took her about 5 minutes to calm down and realize her eggs were right there. Good luck with her

 

[buckaroo's wife]

Well, we moved her. She was sitting on no less than TWO DOZEN eggs.

It was a little traumatic for us both (she is ticked OFF) but she's in the barn and safe. Once she got back on the eggs she quieted down and sat right back down. I know she wasn't sitting on ALL of those eggs, but I moved them all anyway. It'll be amazing is she hatches any I guess. What a mess.

What shocks me is, she is a small runt welsummerX hen. I didn't know she had it in her!

 

[ryanhodapp]

good luck with the broody, I am waiting for mine to hatch. She is a day late, ugh

 

[buckaroo's wife]

Quote:
Thanks, you too!

So, I moved her.....just went to check and she's pretty agitated and not sitting on them like she did at first. How long might it take her to settle down? How long can eggs go uncovered?

 

[sheila3935]

I have an Aussie that started to set 3 days ago the nest box she was in was sitting way up high and I was worried about when the chicks hatched that they would fall so last night we moved her into this

she freaked out for awhile but then settled back down and now she looks like a black feather blanket with a head sticking out. By the way in that picture is my DD's D'Anvers not my Australorp.

 

[henney penny]

Good luck I`ll be following this post to see how many hatch.