Broody hen won't be moved

[MereBear]

Hi All!

Need some advice here...

One of our hens went broody a few days ago... of course two weeks after I started incubating eggs! She's been in one of our two nesting boxes sitting on some eggs. From everything I've read it's a good idea to move a broody hen to a safer location so the others can't mess with her, the eggs, or the babies. Also, there's a two foot drop from the nesting box the floor and I don't want chicks falling out. I tried to move her last night under the cover of darkness but she wouldn't sit on the eggs in the new spot, just paced back and forth trying to get out then laid down next to the eggs. I moved her back to her old nest so the eggs wouldn't chill and die.

Now my question- do I attempt to move her again, or should I just let her be and hope for the best? As it is right now, the other hens keep jumping into her nest and laying on top of her to lay an egg. I guess I can make some more nesting boxes and encourage the other birds to lay in them. The broody hen is at the top of the pecking order, so I don't have much fear of the other hens hurting her or the babies, but I am afraid that the chicks will drop to the floor. Should I move her and the chicks when they hatch? Will she accept that? Definitely need some advice from someone more experience than I am. This is our first spring with our birds and our first time hatching eggs.

Thanks!!

 

[Yiannisk]

Do not worry i had the same problem two feet high question last season only to wake up one morning and see the broody hen with her chicks searching for food on the ground happy
how they got down it is still a question for me

 

[JanO]

I would just leave her be.. I have hens that brood sometimes in locations 5 or 6 feet high (I have an assortment of fruit baskets mounted at various heights) and have yet to lose a chick that I'm aware of. When she feels that the chicks are ready she'll jump down and encourge them to follow her, but it won't hurt them unles they land on concrete or something hard that shouldn't be there to begin with. Chicks are a lot tougher than they let on and you can bet that mama knows what she's doing.

 

[MereBear]

Thank you both for your quick responses! I'm going to leave her be and hope for the best!

 

[1HotChickenMama]

I had the same thing happen 2 weeks ago. I knew she was broody but seemed insecure and was getting pushed off her eggs so leaving her wasn't an option. She would walk all over the eggs like urs too when I moved her. I ended up putting her in a cat carrier where she was limited to moving around. She took right to it and now is hard to remove from it for her nightly eating. 1 week to go!=)