Broody hen

[Adrienne-m]

Hey all! I have a one year old BO who has decided to go broody. She is laying on a hefty stack of eggs as I missed getting them picked up before she started sitting. I don’t want to disturb her so I haven’t done anything with her yet. I’m new to broody hens. Do I need to separate her/the chicks from everyone else? My flock is used to having new chickens added and are all very calm and friendly. My coop is almost at ground level (very securely) with a ramp out that is only at a very slight incline so I don’t think chicks would have trouble going up and down. I have ladders up to the bottom roost. Cutie Pie has food and water within a few feet of her and this morning I gave her some hard boiled egg. Anything else I need to do for her?

 

[snood dude]

Hey all! I have a one year old BO who has decided to go broody. She is laying on a hefty stack of eggs as I missed getting them picked up before she started sitting. I don’t want to disturb her so I haven’t done anything with her yet. I’m new to broody hens. Do I need to separate her/the chicks from everyone else? My flock is used to having new chickens added and are all very calm and friendly. My coop is almost at ground level (very securely) with a ramp out that is only at a very slight incline so I don’t think chicks would have trouble going up and down. I have ladders up to the bottom roost. Cutie Pie has food and water within a few feet of her and this morning I gave her some hard boiled egg. Anything else I need to do for her?

It would be best to separate them from other chickens.

 

[DobieLover]

Hey all! I have a one year old BO who has decided to go broody. She is laying on a hefty stack of eggs as I missed getting them picked up before she started sitting. I don’t want to disturb her so I haven’t done anything with her yet. I’m new to broody hens. Do I need to separate her/the chicks from everyone else? My flock is used to having new chickens added and are all very calm and friendly. My coop is almost at ground level (very securely) with a ramp out that is only at a very slight incline so I don’t think chicks would have trouble going up and down. I have ladders up to the bottom roost. Cutie Pie has food and water within a few feet of her and this morning I gave her some hard boiled egg. Anything else I need to do for her?

I've never separated a broody from the flock.
She has a semi private area and must leave her nest to eat, drink, perch and dust bathe where the others do. I always decide which eggs are going to be set, mark them with a pencil and give her the eggs all on the same day so there is no staggered hatch.
I manage her breaks by removing her in the morning as soon as I enter the pen to do morning chores. This is when I check her nest for any errant eggs that do not have a mark on them. Generally by the time I'm finished, she's made her way back to the nest after taking care of all her business.
I candle the eggs at 7 days and 14 days and remove any obvious duds or quitters.
My flock is always on a non-layer feed at 18-20% protein with oyster shell of the side so it's always ready for chicks.

 

[Adrienne-m]

Mine are on a non layer feed with oyster shells as well. She is currently setting in the most popular box so maybe I should move her to one of the ones nobody uses?

 

[50-45-1]

The other hens may be laying fresh eggs daily in her nest, this will lead to staggered batch. (Not all eggs due to hatch at the same time)
Also if she has more eggs than she can cover, the outer eggs will chill and die. Then her daily shuffling which rotates and moves the eggs around, will move dead eggs back under and live eggs out to the outer edges. Killing them also. Pretty soon she has mostly dead eggs.
I would set up a secluded spot for her so add he can brood in peace
How long has she been sitting?
Moving her to a different box within the coop may not work as she may return to the Old spot and ALL the hatching eggs may chill and die.

 

[Adrienne-m]

I'm worried if I move her she may not go back to any of them? I'm thinking I could build something to section of a small part of the coop. I have a separate coop but worry about separating then re-integrating. If I sectioned off some coop it would shrink the footage per chicken indoors but they would still have the same amount of roost space. They never stay indoors even in bad weather so I don't think they would mind less indoor space?