Do I move the Nest?

[Butterball]

I have been raising chickens/turkeys/guineas for 8+ years. Our guineas have hatched many of their own keets, but all of the other birds-we do the hatching. I have a BO that has become broody. She doesn't want to be messed with, and that's fine with me. I'd love to let her hatch her own chicks. However, our nest boxes are about 2 feet off of the ground and that's where she is. So, my concern is if she hatches there, then what? I can't imagine any little ones getting down safely. I feel that I should move her. But, I don't want to move her and have her lose interest. I never seem to catch her off the nest. Our guineas would never sit again if we tried to move their nests (so we learned to let nature take it's course). Also, wherever they hatch...will the others accept the chicks? I have made it a policy to never combine different size birds-they can just be mean, but if they are hatched there, does it make a difference? Our guineas all take care of the keets-it's the village raising the children kind of thing.

 

[Dottie Pratt]

I can't really answer your question.
I did move mine for the same reason up off the ground and the hen sat one day and then left it. Mine are now in the incabator hoping they will hatch. This was my first hen to sit.

Good luck hope someone can answer your questions

Dottie

 

[Lollipop]

Broody Hens;

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[jvls1942]

I leave my BO in the nest at any height. You have plenty of time after the chicks hatch to move her and the newbies to the ground..

just make sure that all the eggs that are going to hatch, are hatched.

 

[Brickman House]

We had a handful of hens go broody late last summer and early fall. We never had any luck moving them from the nest they chose, so we finally learned to leave them be.

We'd move them a couple of days after hatch, and they'd do fine.

 

[bantiesrule]

You should have plenty of time after they hatch to move them down. Don't worry about them getting hurt though, babies bounce.

We used to have chickens go broody up in the haymow and they always got down with no injuries-from approximately 7 feet up to a cement floor or the ground. Baby woodducks often fall from nests that are 15 feet high or more. 2 feet up is nothing, especially if you have bedding under the nest area.

 

[Butterball]

Thanks everyone!