Hens have been hatching eggs and raising chicks with the flock since they were domesticated several thousand years ago. The ancient Egyptians incubated eggs and raised the chicks themselves. I don’t know how long people have been isolating hens when incubating or when raising chicks, that may have been part of the domestication process. They all work. We all have different experiences, set-ups personalities, and lifestyles. We all do it differently. If you ever get the opinion on here that there is only one way to do something and that every other way is wrong, get a second opinion. One of the confusing parts of having chickens is that so many different things work that there is no one clear cut way to do much of anything. Your problem is deciding which way you want to go.
I have never isolated a hen to hatch eggs, but I have moved a broody hen from one nest to another. So far, always successfully. That could change the next time I try it.
A broody hen mostly lives off of stored fat when they are on the nest. If you have ever butchered a laying hen you’ll see they have a lot of fat stored up, a lot more than a cockerel or rooster. They still need to eat, drink, and defecate but they can go a long time without leaving the nest. Use that to your advantage when you move one.
Move a broody at night with as little light and commotion as possible, well after she has settled in for the night. It’s best to do this before you give her any eggs in case she will not accept the move, but use fake eggs or sacrificial eggs for this. If she has already started a clutch that you want to hatch, move those eggs but realize there is some risk. Build your new nest so you can lock her in that nest. Make it as dark as you can but don’t set it up where it can become an oven and cook her. Leave some ventilation. Leave her in there all the next day, either letting her out just before dark to see if she wants to take her daily constitutional or even wait until the next morning to let her out. She’ll be OK either way.
The area you move her to needs to be totally enclosed so she cannot go back to her old nest. The area outside the nest needs to be big enough for food, water, and for her to poop. A broody hen knows to not poop in her nest but she does not know to not poop in her food or water. You may be changing those out fairly often so give yourself access. I don’t know what kinds of feeders or waterers you plan to use so I can’t tell you how much extra space you need, but it’s not much.
You need to leave her locked in there so she can’t leave for a few days, though each hen is different. When you let her out do it on a day you can be around to see where she goes when she leaves that area. Some hens will return to their original nest or some will go to the new nest. If your purpose is to keep other hens out of her nest, don’t ever let her out until after the hatch.
Other people regularly move hens using a totally different method. I’m not trying to say you have to do it this way, just that it has worked for me.
Some people have multiple broodies at the same time, either on different nests with different hatch dates or all sharing the same eggs and chicks and it works out great. I’ve had two broodies on different nests fight over eggs that had just started internal pip and chirping at Mama. Half the eggs were destroyed. I don’t let two broodies share the same area now.
I also like larger nests for broodies, but I haven’t noticed eggs getting broken in smaller nests. We all see different things. It is pretty common for the first chicks that hatch to climb up on Mama’s back while waiting for the later eggs to hatch. When I had a hen hatch in a cat litter bucket (the bucket the litter comes in, not the litter bin) the hen was so close to the side that when chicks fell off they totally missed the nest and hit the floor. It did not hurt the chicks, I’ve seen a hen get her chicks to jump out of a 10’ high hay loft and they were fine, but I had to toss several chicks back in her nest until the hatch was over, then I retired that nest.
I have never isolated a hen to hatch eggs, but I have moved a broody hen from one nest to another. So far, always successfully. That could change the next time I try it.
A broody hen mostly lives off of stored fat when they are on the nest. If you have ever butchered a laying hen you’ll see they have a lot of fat stored up, a lot more than a cockerel or rooster. They still need to eat, drink, and defecate but they can go a long time without leaving the nest. Use that to your advantage when you move one.
Move a broody at night with as little light and commotion as possible, well after she has settled in for the night. It’s best to do this before you give her any eggs in case she will not accept the move, but use fake eggs or sacrificial eggs for this. If she has already started a clutch that you want to hatch, move those eggs but realize there is some risk. Build your new nest so you can lock her in that nest. Make it as dark as you can but don’t set it up where it can become an oven and cook her. Leave some ventilation. Leave her in there all the next day, either letting her out just before dark to see if she wants to take her daily constitutional or even wait until the next morning to let her out. She’ll be OK either way.
The area you move her to needs to be totally enclosed so she cannot go back to her old nest. The area outside the nest needs to be big enough for food, water, and for her to poop. A broody hen knows to not poop in her nest but she does not know to not poop in her food or water. You may be changing those out fairly often so give yourself access. I don’t know what kinds of feeders or waterers you plan to use so I can’t tell you how much extra space you need, but it’s not much.
You need to leave her locked in there so she can’t leave for a few days, though each hen is different. When you let her out do it on a day you can be around to see where she goes when she leaves that area. Some hens will return to their original nest or some will go to the new nest. If your purpose is to keep other hens out of her nest, don’t ever let her out until after the hatch.
Other people regularly move hens using a totally different method. I’m not trying to say you have to do it this way, just that it has worked for me.
Some people have multiple broodies at the same time, either on different nests with different hatch dates or all sharing the same eggs and chicks and it works out great. I’ve had two broodies on different nests fight over eggs that had just started internal pip and chirping at Mama. Half the eggs were destroyed. I don’t let two broodies share the same area now.
I also like larger nests for broodies, but I haven’t noticed eggs getting broken in smaller nests. We all see different things. It is pretty common for the first chicks that hatch to climb up on Mama’s back while waiting for the later eggs to hatch. When I had a hen hatch in a cat litter bucket (the bucket the litter comes in, not the litter bin) the hen was so close to the side that when chicks fell off they totally missed the nest and hit the floor. It did not hurt the chicks, I’ve seen a hen get her chicks to jump out of a 10’ high hay loft and they were fine, but I had to toss several chicks back in her nest until the hatch was over, then I retired that nest.
