Broody Hen

[goodlordbird]

My cochin hen Yeti has set up a very nice little nest for herself and is currently sitting on 4 eggs. She's been nesting for 2 days now.
Unfortunately, she did this away from her nesting box and I need to clean the coop!
Should I clean around her or try to relocate her into the nesting boxes? The boxes are clean & fresh as a daisy...of course.
I don't want to stress her out or cause her to reject the eggs but am unsure how to go about this cleaning.
Thanks for any advice ♡

 

[azygous]

All broodies get off the nest from time to time for a few minutes to poop and dirt bathe. This is essential. If you watch to see when your broody tends to take her breaks, you can then be prepared with your cleaning supplies to finish her spot.

I hope you consider allowing your broody to nest in that spot as long as she's under cover and safe from predators. If you erect some temporary barriers to keep other hens from laying in her nest, you can avoid broken eggs, which is especially heartbreaking when they contain near term embryos.

It also helps to protect the new chicks from danger during the first week of vulnerability. I usually do this for my broody. If she's blockaded from being able to freely come and go, I will remove her from the nest during the warmest part of the day, and stand by to let her back on her nest since she's usually only going to take, at most, a five minute break.

 

[aldarita]

My cochin hen Yeti has set up a very nice little nest for herself and is currently sitting on 4 eggs. She's been nesting for 2 days now.
Unfortunately, she did this away from her nesting box and I need to clean the coop!
Should I clean around her or try to relocate her into the nesting boxes? The boxes are clean & fresh as a daisy...of course.
I don't want to stress her out or cause her to reject the eggs but am unsure how to go about this cleaning.
Thanks for any advice ♡

Is this the first time she has been broody?
If she is, 2 days is still a very short time to have her completely sitting on her eggs, so you really don't know what she would do even if you just clean around her.
People do different things with their broodies, if you read the posts related to this topic you will find that it is better to separate her from the rest of the chickens and you can do it by placing her in a cage inside the coop

This is my set up for my broody. I let her out twice a day. Once the chicks are few days old, she goes out of the cage with them. I am lucky that she is the alpha hen so she has no problem integrating her chicks and herself back into the flock.
If your hen is serious about brooding, she will continue to brood even if you move her to a different place. It is recommended to do it at night with the least commotion and with ease. I believe it is less stressful if they are separated from the others within the same area where they can see them all the time but feel that they cannot come and mess with their nest and eggs. I wish you luck and hopefully your henny will turn out to be a good mom.

 

[goodlordbird]

Thank you! This is her first time as a broody hen.
She is safe in the corner of the roost, occasionally coming out for a stroll/ food.
I did clean around her yesterday, leaving the little nest alone. She didn't mind and continued to sit.
I'll soon set up some dividers so the others don't bother her, as I don't have a large enough coop to separate her completely.
Its all very exciting, I have incubated/hatched many chicks myself but never had a broody hen!

 

[aldarita]

It is truly a wonderful experience, I have done it once before and today I got fertilized eggs that I will place on my broody's nest when I let her out of the cage for her morning walk. Make sure the other hens don't add up to her clutch when she goes out if she is not completely separated. Mark her eggs so when you see another egg that is not hers you can remove it. It will be good to candle her 4 eggs on day 10 to make sure the embrios are developing, take the ones that are not right away (you can read about candling in the forum). If you live in a warm weather place, you can expect chicks hatching before day 21. It happened to me and it was a very nice surprise.
If your hen is not at the top or close to in the pecking order, you need to separate mom and chicks. If you can place them near by where the others can see them but cannot harm them is better and will be easier to integrate them.

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC! @goodlordbird
You've gotten good advice...
..but I just had to say I love your screen name.
Does it refer the the Ivory Billed Woodpecker... or the movie?

 

[Chang1993]

April 2019, 3 broody hens.

First hen hatching date will be on 4/29 - 4/30. 1/2 Ayam Cemani 1/2 Shamo.

Second hen hatching date will be 5/5 - 5/6. Full blooded Ga Noi.

Third hen hatching date will the same as the Ga Noi hen. 1/3 Ayam Cemani 1/3 Mosiac Fibro 1/3 Shamo. Amaze about to be fully white.

Best to say that it's easier using an incubator. I am sure that they are very protective when the chicks hatch.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

April 2019, 3 broody hens.
View attachment 1741096
First hen hatching date will be on 4/29 - 4/30. 1/2 Ayam Cemani 1/2 Shamo.

View attachment 1741097
Second hen hatching date will be 5/5 - 5/6. Full blooded Ga Noi.

View attachment 1741098
Third hen hatching date will the same as the Ga Noi hen. 1/3 Ayam Cemani 1/3 Mosiac Fibro 1/3 Shamo. Amaze about to be fully white.

Best to say that it's easier using an incubator. I am sure that they are very protective when the chicks hatch.

You have such interesting BROODYS.

 

[Chang1993]

You have such interesting BROODYS.

Interesting that I hatch them from incubators as ebay eggs, but somehow when a hen started to get broody. Next thing you know, the other hens goes broody as well. I used recycle water jugs for nesting box and it works really good.