Failed Broody Hen

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If you have a hen brooding in an impossible place you can do several things. Some tips/ideas (from experience and reading other broody adventures)
  1. If the hen sits in a unsafe place she might die from predation. If there are egg stealers there will be no chicks. Leave her to figure it out herself is a risk, but many truly free range chickens manage to come out of their hiding place after 3 weeks.
  2. If her nest is high from the floor you can wait and see too. The chicks that hatch don’t need water and feed the first 2 days. She will find a spot on the floor where she will sit with the chicks that hatched. The eggs that didn’t are dead or will die.
  3. Build something around the nest where the broody sits where you can put feed and water and the chicks can walk a bit. 8 sqft or 0.5 sq meters is enough for the hatch days. Take them all to a better spot after the hatch.
  4. Move her at the start of her being broody to a good place. Best with her own nest box if you can detach it/take it out. And during the night. If she stops being broody there will be a next time.
  5. Wait to move her till day 19-20 (18 with bantams) when she should notice life inside the eggs. Chances are good she accepts the new place. If possible, have an incubator started and ready in case she doesn’t accept the new spot and be prepared to raise the chicks yourself.
 
SweetieChicken234 said:
It's too high up for chicks unfortunately.
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Why do you think the nest is too high? I've seen a hen get her chicks out of a 10 feet (3 meter) high hayloft. She said jump and they did, then ran to her. My hens regularly hatch in nests 2 feet or 4 feet above the coop floor. The hen has no problems getting them down when she is ready. They can't go back up to the nest to sleep so she covers them on the coop floor at night.
 
An update that's not much of an update: I lifted her chest just a smidge this morning. She's still sitting on 3 eggs (she started with 6, ate 2 of them very early on and I broke one). I only got a glimpse, so I can only attest to the fact that the eggs are there and intact. By my (newly revised) count this is day 23.
 
An update that is more of an update: this morning she had one little peep underneath her! Must have hatched last night or very early this morning.

Coming back home around 2pm, it looks like while I was at work she ate/destroyed one of the eggs/chicks that was under her (I saw an empty brown shell that I don't think was there before). So at this point I think she has one peep and one unhatched egg underneath her. Though when I went near the dog kennel today she growled at me like she's possessed by a demon, so I just gave her space and might take a peek later tonight when she's asleep.

There's water in the kennel, and I added some chick grit to the little plate that's holding chick feed. I'm hoping she gets to raise at least one baby after all that hard work!
 
Anon112 said:
An update that is more of an update: this morning she had one little peep underneath her! Must have hatched last night or very early this morning.

Coming back home around 2pm, it looks like while I was at work she ate/destroyed one of the eggs/chicks that was under her (I saw an empty brown shell that I don't think was there before). So at this point I think she has one peep and one unhatched egg underneath her. Though when I went near the dog kennel today she growled at me like she's possessed by a demon, so I just gave her space and might take a peek later tonight when she's asleep.

There's water in the kennel, and I added some chick grit to the little plate that's holding chick feed. I'm hoping she gets to raise at least one baby after all that hard work!
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:pop :pop
 
McChooky said:
Happy to hear she's got one.Some broody hens will eat the remaining eggs before abandoning the nest.I was hoping she'd have more than one!Congratulations!
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Thank you!

This morning she had moved off of two of the eggs. I brought them inside and candled them, but they seem to be empty and no sign of movement. I am curious about the broken shell I saw. I wonder if she *might* be sitting on two chicks?

This morning there was a little chick on the floor of the barn---it had managed to slip out through the bars of the dog kennel (FACEPALM!). I put it back in and Strawberry tucked it right underneath her. As of this afternoon there was a little peeping from underneath her.

I spent the morning "chick-proofing" the kennel (ie running cardboard slats through the bars to prevent any more escapes.)

I guess my next bit of research is finding articles/threads about reintegrating her and the chick(s) with the rest of the crew. It feels like just yesterday she started brooding, but she's been out of the main coop/run for a month!
 
Congrats with at least one chick.
If the broody and chick are within sight of the flock , integration shouldnt be very difficult. But I wouldn’t put them together until the chick(s) is at least a week old and a bit stronger.

I don’t have any experience with a broody that was completely out of sight for such a long time. So please do your own research too. But I know one thing that is important : Don’t give the other flock members a reason to see the broody and chick(s) as imposter. Supply chick food and water everywhere/ in extra feed stations.

The mother hen needs to protect the chick from the others if you put them together. She also needs space away from the others / a quiet spot to rest with the chick(s).
Look what happens if you put them together. You should see the difference between pecking order issues and real attacks.
 
Thank you! I confirmed yesterday that it's just the one chick.

Right now they are in a dog kennel in my barn. I'm going to try to figure out a way to have them in sight of the others but protected for a few days out in the run, and then try some actual integration.
 

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