Broody hen...need help from the experts

[bburn]

I have a broody hen....did not even think there was a hen in that flock that would go broody. Dark Cornish.

She has been on the nest for five days now. I have a place I can move her to that she will be alone but can see the others but will be secluded.

I need to know when to move her.
I need to know how to move her.
I am up here by myself as my DH is working out of state. I am thinking I might call in recruits to help me.

I have no idea how many eggs she has under her but she is in THE nest that everyone lays in usually. I noticed her after the third day of going out to gather eggs and she was in the nest. She even growled at me. She definately has the glazed look on her face and is determined.

But I know I need to move her. The rooster in that coop is not aggressive. The only signs of aggression towards me was when a hen squawked when I was in the run...he came to protect her and I just put the egg basket between he and I and he turned away. But if I go in to get her and she gets loud I will have to deal with him as well as an angry hen. Plus, I have to carry her through his run to get to the corner coop where I want to put her.

So....do I catch him and put him in a crate?
Block off the pop door from the inside and put her in a crate and then gather her eggs and then carry the crate through the run to the corner coop?

What is the best way to handle this?

AND.....do I simply give her new eggs that are fertile or just let her have the eggs she has been setting on? I also have a full incubator in the house that is due to hatch at the same time as her eggs. If I move some of the chicks out to her then how many little ones can she mother?

I need the broody queens to advise me here......

 

[Judy]

I don't meet broody queen qualifications (whatever they are!) but have had a few. Generally I let them set in the coop with the others, and mark the eggs for hatching and check her at least 3 times a day. You do find extra eggs under the broody if you do this, and you need to remove them. Sometimes I find another hen on the eggs for hatch but it's simple enough to rearrange the hens onto the right nests. I do this because I let them raise the chicks in with the flock so I don't have to integrate later. So far the others have accepted the chicks, even after the mama stops mothering them at 4 or 5 weeks, and the mamas have been protective of the chicks. I did move one successfully, when I set the eggs, by doing it at night. Once I tried to put feed store chicks under a broody and she would not accept them, ran them out of the nest and I found them scattered around the coop, had to put them in the broody pen by themselves with a heat lamp. And once this was successful.

Mine stay pretty calm if I go in the coop after dark, even if I use a low light. A few may get off the roost, and they talk to me a bit, but are still much easier to handle then. I would think with a low light flashlight or headlamp you could move her by yourself with the roo bothering you little if at all. Obviously if the roo goes after you, you will have to lock him away from you while you do the moving.

I have always given them fertile eggs of my choosing rather than leave them on the eggs they chose. Main reason is I want them the same age. I collect the ones I want on the kitchen counter til I get the right number. Meanwhile I remove eggs from the broody daily. It doesn't seem to affect their broodiness, so far, to remove eggs, but sometimes I do replace them with golf balls. How many is hard to answer. I've never seen a dark cornish in person, but if my impression of them is close, I would imagine she couldn't cover more than 5 or 6 well. You'll be able to tell. If she accepts them and tucks them under her, rearranges them a bit, then all are out of view when she settles down, it's not too many. Most I've tried is 8 or 9 under an Orp sized bird.

Not quite sure why you have to move her, but of course that's up to you, and most people on here do recommend doing that. It does save keeping track of which eggs are which.

One last hint, then a link to a great article on broodies. I have no trouble reaching under a broody or even picking her up off the nest. What makes them peck/fight is when you reach under them. So to feel/retrieve eggs, I put one hand sort of along side or over the neck and face, then reach for the eggs with the other. She's never bothered the hand on her face because it's not near her eggs. I can hold the head/neck very gently, really barely touching, as there is no struggle.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[bburn]

...and that was what I needed I think.

The reason I am moving her is because the row of nest boxes are just below chest high. I don't want the babies to fall out. And that is a MOB of chickens in there already.

So far I have not caught another chicken in the nest at all. I think she leaves the nest when there is no one in the coop. Food and water are right there.

And thanks for the article. I am trying to read all I can find.

 

[rcentner]

I agree with ddawn. I used to separate them about lockdown time (18 days) and was so darn careful about it and then reintroduce the mama when she is doing caring for the chicks. and then introduce the chicks when they got to be about 14 weeks old. But with my new situation, I don't have a good plave to separate the chicks and mama to. So this time around I let them do everything themselves. I even had a hatch occur a couple feet off the ground in a nest and the chicks got out just fine.

I have found that with a big flock you must have a good mama. I had 1 mama who is at the bottom of the ranking and her chick didn't do well and died after being pecked on the comb the 1st day of life. Mama would run away from the top hens and her baby couldn't keep up. She also got moved from her nest from the other hens more than the other 2 broodies.

definatley mark the eggs set for hatching, every night I would reach in and collect the ones that don't belong. Ya, the hens yell and peck at you, but they sit there on the eggs anyway. I was worried about moving the eggs the last few days and maybe disturbing the ones that are set to hatch, but I haven't had an issue there either. They hatch just fine.

I am surprised how well my flock does with the chicks, they pretty much ignore them and mama's will run at anyone who gets near her babies. So, you can try the ultra careful way of separation or you can see how they do in the flock

 

[bburn]

Being chicken myself....and not knowing what kind of momma this girl will be.....I am going to move her. If it was my partridge rock I would leave her...she is the queen bee in this flock and quite mean to the others if they get in her way. Plus a crew of RIR's that are not pleasant.

The thing is I will have a whole crew of chicks I hatch in the incubator the same age. So, once momma is ready to get away from the babies I can put them all in the corner coop to grow out.

My nest box is right at 3 1/2 ft off the ground at the bottom. I can see one falling from there.....

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I'm really not trying to talk you out of moving them! But -- the only reason one falling out would be a problem is if it was before the mama was ready to take her chicks to food and water. Many a chick has hatched in an old fashioned hayloft. When they come down, mama just squats where she wants her new nest or where they gather, and she covers them. Ever see those videos on TV of wild ducklings jumping out of a nest waaaayyy up in a tree, with mama calling to them from the ground, so she can lead them to the water? Amazing.

Truth is, if I had a bunch of layers in the nest with a broody, I'd move the broody, too, to keep the eggs from getting walked on and kicked around and jostled so much.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
I'm really not trying to talk you out of moving them! But -- the only reason one falling out would be a problem is if it was before the mama was ready to take her chicks to food and water. Many a chick has hatched in an old fashioned hayloft. When they come down, mama just squats where she wants her new nest or where they gather, and she covers them. Ever see those videos on TV of wild ducklings jumping out of a nest waaaayyy up in a tree, with mama calling to them from the ground, so she can lead them to the water? Amazing.

Truth is, if I had a bunch of layers in the nest with a broody, I'd move the broody, too, to keep the eggs from getting walked on and kicked around and jostled so much.

This brought back memories of the days I use to build wood duck houses. I would always add hardware cloth inside the boxes right under the hole. It enabled the newly born ducklings to climb out of the boxes. Anyway, one day I witnessed the mother down below whistling to the ducklings to come out of the house. It was really neat. I also learned that when the young hit the water the jolt would kick in their senses.