Can I successfully move a brooding hen and her clutch?

[roadislandred]

I have what I think is a bantam RIR and she is setting on 12 eggs. She is not tame at all, I would like to get her in a cage with her eggs and keep her until they hatch then let her go free range which is all she has known. She was left at our horse barn by previous boarder. Would she stop brooding if I tried to move her and how do I go about it.
Thanks so much for any help.

 

[citrusdreams]

I moved a chicken that was brooding in the henhouse in a nest, to a dog cage outside the henhouse. She finished the job and and I let her and her babies out of the cage and she took care of them afterwards too.

I've only done that once though, so it's not like I'm the voice of experience. I think they're easier than guineas, who will abandon their eggs if you mess with them at all.

 

[Chickenmaven]

Move & isolate her if there is any danger of other chickens bothering her.
I have moved and isolated 3 broodies this Spring. No problemo. They get so focused it is scary.

 

[roadislandred]

Hi thanks for your reply. Someone said I should do this at night it will cause less stress for her. I can't touch her at all, she is real wild.

 

[jenjscott]

Why are you wanting to move her? But if you have to, after dark it is much easier.

 

[roadislandred]

Hi Jenjscott, she is a free range hen and roost very high in the horse barn at night along with one of the roosters. She layed her clutch in a horse stall, i think she is safe enough as long as she is on her nest but when the chicks hatch I am afraid the horse will step on them also not to sure I want her to have the run of the place with babies in tow. Last year the only one she hatched drowned in a bucket of water, so sad. I though I might put the babies in a brooder and try to introduce them to the other chickens. Not for sure yet. I am new at this raising chickens.