Chicken hiding out to brood!? HELP!

Flawedprophecy

Chirping
12 Years
Jun 26, 2011
17
0
75
Santa Rosa, California
So we have a small flock of four, two rir and two leghorns, they get along pretty well. One of our reds went broody this week and has started nesting in the thick redwood patch on our property, far from the coop. Its going to rain soon and i dont want to leave her there. Were thinking about moving her eggs into one of our coops. Were not sure weather or not we want chicks yet. We doubt that her nest is fertile unless she snuck off and mated but we dont know of any roosters near enough for that. We might give her a couple fertile eggs and see how she does. Ive dealt with a broody hen raising chicks but never had one go off and seperate herself so much. Should we leave her? Should we move her? I dont want a coyote to get her! Thanks!
 
Last edited:
So we have a small flock of four, two rir and two leghorns, they get along pretty well. One of our reds went broody this week and has started nesting in the thick redwood patch on our property, far from the coop. Its going to rain soon and i dont want to leave her there. Were thinking about moving her eggs into one of our coops. Were not sure weather or not we want chicks yet. We doubt that her nest is fertile unless she snuck off and mated but we dont know of any roosters near enough for that. We might give her a couple fertile eggs and see how she does. Ive dealt with a broody hen raising chicks but never had one go off and seperate herself so much. Should we leave her? Should we move her? I dont want a coyote to get her! Thanks!

Moving her would be safest for her. Try her with fertile eggs in a kennel in the coop. I will say that RIR's generally don't go broody so you're lucky if she does! Just moving her and not letting her return to her spot might be enough to break her if you don't want chicks just now.
 
Thanks for the reply! We moved her into the coop with most of her eggs (there were at least 20) and now shes frazzled. Hoping she will relax and get back to nesting. We are probably going to hatch a few chicks with her if she doesnt break now. She was very passive. No pecks, just a little noisy. Shes been taking 10 minute breaks once a day to eat and bathe, but besides that shes been totally devoted to setting.
 
She figured it out! Setting again!

Awesome! I hope she goes all the way!
smile.png
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom