Can I move my hen who's sitting on eggs.

[laverne34]

My hen is sitting on eggs and I'd like to move her to another nest box in a separate pen. The reason is.....all my other hens keep laying more eggs in her box and she has way too many eggs under her. I've removed eggs several times and also tried to put up barriers for the other hens but nothing has worked so far. Help!

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Moving broodies is often done, but it`s always a crap shoot. Some hens are so locked on that nothing matters and others simply can`t get over a move. To lessen the stress of moving your hen, prepare everything in advance and do the move in the dark of night so she wakes up in her new nest in the morning. No guarrentees, but It`s worked for me often enough. Also, unless you marked her original eggs, you may want to start her on some fresh ones. Staggared hatches seldom turn out well. Good luck.........Pop

 

[CityGirl88]

I wouldnt move her. We tried that with ours with her first batch of eggs, and she completely stop laying on them and they all died. But this time we left her and she just hatched her first set of babies

 

[geepy]

I've moved broodies before. If it's her first set it could be risky, but if she's an older you could get away with it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Pop has great advice, give it a try. I found it helps to shield the new place with feed bags, boards, etc, so that the lighting is dim and the hen can't see out, nor can other birds look in & bother the broody. After a few days, if the hen sticks with the job in the new location, you can give her more light & visability.

 

[laverne34]

Thanks for the advice....I'll move her in a couple of days and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[chisandchicks]

Well, it seems I will be giving my hen a night time move.... I will let y'all know how it works out for me.
It is getting pretty cold at night here in Arizona and I am wondering; sometimes I go to check the eggs in the morning and they are pretty cool t the touch and my only broody hen is walking around with the other girls & guys... is this normal and is it okay?
I sure would appreciate some wisdom here y'all.
Thank you!

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Every time I moved a sitting hen to another pen she would pace the wire instead of sitting. It would be best if you could fence off or barricade her present nest to keep the other hens out. If not, you need to do what Lollipop said in post # 2, mark her own eggs. I use a Sharpie to draw a line all the way around the eggs I want to keep, then it's an easy matter to lift the hen, look under her real quick and snag the new unmarked eggs the other hens laid in her nest.

 

[amyhill]

I may have messed up. My 2 Mille fleur d'uccle pullets have been laying for a couple of months. Two weeks ago it stopped. Today, I found one if the girls sitting on !eighteen!!! Eggs. I moved her to a brooder pen with the eggs about an hour ago but she hasn't got back on them. . Hope she does after she settles down. I'm going to place her on them when she goes to bed tonight!

 

[Egg Zachary]

I just moved my hen and all her eggs at night. she has never moved. no chicks yet either so i worry i hurt the eggs by moving them. I will update if i get babies!