Can I move my broody hen? (I want her to stay broody)

[nekomi]

Hi everyone,

On Thursday night, one of my Polish hens didn't come back to the coop to sleep. Of course, I thought the worst, but the next morning she had returned, ate a double helping, and I left her out to free-range with the other girls the rest of the day (I wasn't home to watch, but I bet she didn't do much ranging). That night, she was gone again, and returned Saturday morning.

This went on for 3 nights. Then, this morning, I found her nest - and she has gone broody, setting on 18 eggs! I don't have a rooster, so they are infertile. BUT, her timing just couldn't be better, because I just ordered 2 dozen hatching eggs from folks on BYC. I'd like to let her hatch and raise some of them instead of putting them all in the incubator.

My big problem is that her nest isn't in the run. My chickens free-range, and she chose a stand of tall, bushy hostas growing along the wall of the horse barn. She's been fine out there for 3 nights with no evidence of predators bothering her, but should I attempt to move her and her nest to a safer location? I really want her to stay broody so she can hatch the eggs that will arrive in the mail this week.

If she will break her broody cycle when I move her, is it possible to build some kind of bottomless "pen" that I can set on top of her at night, just to keep her hidden from predators? Or would it draw even more attention to her?

Argh, decisions, decisions! Any advice would be great - I'm astonished that her timing in going broody coincided with me ordering eggs!

 

[chicknmania]

that is a hard one but I don't think i'd leave her out there...and I don't know but I was always under the impression that if you move them it probably would break the cycle. If you built a bottomless pen, a predator could just dig under it. Kind of your call though, depending on your individual circumstances.

 

[Aj1911]

yes you can move her and this is how you do it.

get a separate pen ready where the other girls cant bug her, make a nest box on the ground for her

when you move her have 1 person pick her up while you grab the eggs and run ahead to put them in the box then put her in with them and i would screen it off so she cant go any where for a day or two just to make sure she will still be broody

also i would do this at night.

 

[lauralou]

I think that you really need to move her, for her own safety.

I always move my broody hens, because they never want to brood where I want them to. Silly chickens! I have several little broody houses, sort of like doghouses. I lock the broody hen up in a broody house with food, water, and a nest that has golf balls in it. And I keep her in there for a couple of days, until she gets used to the idea of that being her nest. Then I give her eggs to hatch. Not before she has been let out and returned to that nest. Because, trust me, she will want to go back to her original nest that she made.

That's just how I do it, of course. But I have never had that break a hen from her broodiness. Nothing breaks my hens of their broodiness except for a stint in Broody Jail.

Good luck with it!

 

[nekomi]

Thanks everyone, for the suggestions and advice! I've decided to go ahead and try to move her. I still have a good 3 - 4 days before eggs come in the mail, so that should give her time to settle back down.

I built a broody box out of cardboard and placed it inside a large wire dog crate. I'm hoping this will keep her isolated and comfortable during the brooding period.

 

[lauralou]

Sounds perfect!