Chick nesting in bad area

[Kill-em-all Kate]

Hi to you all, I am a new member and new chickeneer!! I have my first chicks since I was a young girl and now working on building a small farm for myself. My question is : I found the missing hen this am and she is setting eggs in the barn on the ground. Can I move her and nest to chicken house or is it best to leave them be? I am so excited I am gonna have babies!! and dont want to mess up nature. Thanks!!

 

[midget_farms]

She should be moved to a safe location. If the barn is safe from predators - it might be OK for her to set eggs there, but if rats or snakes can get in she should be in a brooder. You can build a small cage to put her in where she has close access to food & water.

You can even use a dog crate - just something to keep her & chicks safe while she sits.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

My misplaced chickens I can relocate to a nestbox, but my turkey insists her spot or no spot.

Sorry, where's my manners......

 

[Kill-em-all Kate]

Thanks, I moved her to the hen house, marked eggs and placed her in nest with them. If she does not sit today I will try dog crate. I shut door so he would stay in today and see how it works. She is my best layer and by marking eggs I should be able to remove new ones safley. And hints and tips are greatly welcome!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum!

Glad you are here!

Congratulations on the broody but she does present some decisions for you. There are going to be risks no matter what you do.

If you leave her exposed like that, she is at risk of a predator finding her and killing her and/or destroying the eggs. I grew up on a farm and we had several broodies hatch chicks in the barn or at odd places around and never lost one to a predator. We easily could have but we were lucky and never did. I cannot assess your predator risk or how important this specific hen or her possible chicks are to you. If you do not lock your hen house at night she's at as much risk in the hen house as she is out of it, so that's something else to consider.

If you try to move her, she might stop being broody. It is a real risk and I cannot tell you how she will react. If I were moving her, I would build a totally enclosed pen, probably in the hen house, where she has room for her nest, room to provide water and food, and enough room for her to come off the nest and go poo. I'd have it where she is locked in this little pen, can't get out and the others can't get in to her. I'd make her nest box in there pretty dark. That seems to calm them down. I'd fix it so I could lock her in the nest itself and not let her out to the food and water if I wanted to. Then, I'd move her and her eggs at night with as little light and commotion as possible. I'd leave her locked in the dark nest box until pretty late the next day, giving her time to eat and drink and maybe poo before she goes back to her nest for the night. If she goes back on the nest at night, she probably made the move OK. If she doesn't, you might try locking her in the nest for most of another day.

Another option is to build a predator-proof pen to fit over her in the barn, either big enough to put food and water in with her and leave her locked up or just make it so you can lock her in there at night when the predators are at their most dangerous. I would not try to build it around her since that could really confuse her and upset her, maybe enough to scare her off the nest. But if you could do something you could either set over her at night or maybe assemble around her nest in about 15 minutes while she is off on her daily constitutional, it should work well.

Different options. Any of them could work and any of them could fail. Good luck!

 

[Kill-em-all Kate]

Thanks, now I know a litte more what to expect. Did not think of moving at night. I will keep ya posted on the outcome. I do love this site, lots of great info!!