Broody?

[mylilchix]

I have a hen that wants to go broody on me. When my son just went to check for eggs he found her sitting on 3 eggs. I have a roo so there is potential for fertile eggs. My son wants to let her hatch some eggs, but her favorite nestbox is most of my girls favorite one, so I don't think she'll get kicked off. I'm wondering if I put her in the house in a crate she may hatch some eggs?

Here's my question all of my dog crates are being used by my dogs, so I don't want to seperate them from their homes. I do have a dog house on the deck that my outdoor cat uses in the summer. He's been more of an indoor cat this winter. Here's a picture of the house.

Can I convert that into a chicken house or should I find a large dog crate elsewhere? Thanks for you help!

Sonja

 

[28 chix pix]

I don't see any reason why you cannot use this as a chicken house. I would recommend putting shavings or straw in there of course and cleaning it out if it isn't already. The girl has to feel safe with her eggs from any others.. so do you have a gate for the cover when she is just sitting all day. You can then let her out to go for food and water and she will then return to the eggs again. If they do not feel safe... then they may abandon the eggs.
Good luck....

 

[Mrs.Puff]

You should move her at night time. Prepare the new site, then slide the eggs out from under her and put them in the new nest. Then pick her up very carefully and slowly place her on the new nest. This should be done in very little light, so she can't tell she's in a new spot. Put a blanket over the new area so she can't see out. She will probably settle right down, especially if she's rather tame. I've had to do this five times last summer, and it worked well every time.

 

[Mrs MIA]

That will work just fine.

I have an old kennel from the humane society that I use as a broody box. There's newspaper down on the bottom, but she has a nest box with fresh hay in it. I make sure she gets off the eggs at least once a day to do her business, then she's right back on the nest.

good luck!

 

[mylilchix]

Thank you all for your advice. This is our first broody experience. The dog house is pretty big, so I was thinking of putting a waterer and fedder in with her. We still have a bunch of baby gates that I can put in front of the opening. There's a piece of thick plastic covering the opening right now that I actually might keep her in. I tried to put the same thing over my pop door, and the hens never did figure out how to get through it. I ended up propping up part of it so they'd go back in the coop. Goofy birds! We'll keep an eye on her today, and I may try to move her tonight.

One more question. When I move her how long can the eggs be w/o heat before they become duds?

Sonja

 

[Mrs.Puff]

The eggs will be okay for a little while. Try to move her as quickly as possible though. Make SURE she is broody. Does she just sit there all day, and does she go right back to the eggs when she's taken off the nest? It's kinda cold in Colorado to have a broody.

 

[mylilchix]

She spends most of her day in the nest box, but the problem is her favorite nest box is everyone elses favorite. My other girls kick her off. I hoping if I give her her own space she'll be able to stay put. We've actually had a very warm winter. Yesterday Denver topped out at 71!!! This weekend it'll drop into the 40s, but that's still not very cold.

Sonja

 

[Mrs.Puff]

well, sounds like you should be okay then. You might want to be able to bring the whole shebang inside if you do get a cold snap. Your little girl might get pretty cold by herself in there.

 

[Mrs MIA]

The eggs will be fine for quite some time. I had a broody get kicked off last winter, and the eggs were COLD... had been out for at least an hour below 45°F. They still hatched.

I have a broody silkie right now, and it's only 21°F today. Had a couple of broodies when it was -30°F... silly birds!

 

[mylilchix]

It's kinda funny how they like to go broody or molt when there's a cold snap!!

Sonja