First broody hen, one egg, can't get at her, bad spot to do this thing. Help?

[ChaoSS]

So I went back there again to put some boards against the fence to block out some wind and rain, and I notice her egg is kind of sticking out behind her instead of being under her. I tried to move her to tuck it under her and discovered that she has a number of eggs in there. Guess she was hiding then before. She has food and water where she can get to them without being around the dogs, and this weekend I'll fence off a small patch for her and whatever she manages to hatch. I'll put some sort of shelter in there for her, hopefully when they hatch I can get her to move that way. For now I guess I'll let her do her thing and trust her instincts.

When this is done I'll get it all blocked up and hopefully nobody manages to find another bad spot to do this.

 

[aart]

Best of CLuck to yas...let us know how it works out.

 

[justplainbatty]

Hope you get lots of chicks!

 

[ChaoSS]

So it's been about 2 weeks now, and I got something set up for her. I was going to leave her, but now we are getting a bit of rain, and I really didn't want her hatching those eggs back there where I can't get to them anyway. Too many cats, too much crap that the chicks don't need to be around.

So I went out to get it all set up, and I was going to have to figure out how to get her out of there, well, my wife came out to help as I was putting the small fence up, and she notices that the hen had come out for food. So I had her block the entrance, I got the eggs, we put them in a 30 gallon bin with a hole cut out, and tried to get the hen in there with them.


Doesn't matter how many times I put her in there, she just comes back out. I trap her in there, she wants to try to force her way out. So she's seen her eggs in there, she's still trying to get back to her old spot.


I guess if she doesn't sit these eggs, she doesn't hatch them. Not the end of the world. There's about 8 of them, if she lets them go cold then I just hope this breaks her broodiness as well. If not, I'm not sure what to do, if I can eventually get her to sit in the bin, I suppose I can get her some fresh eggs, but if she just keeps trying to go back go the other spot, I'll have to figure something else out.

 

[aart]

Can you confine her in a pen with the nest in it?
Then just leave her be and hopefully sh'll get back on them once she realizes she can get out of the pen?

 

[ChaoSS]

She was confined, sort of. I set the pen up around the corner of the yard where the gap was. I used the bin with the nest in it to block her out, along with some hardware cloth. The pen was low, about 28 inches high, but escaping the pen just took her further from her old nest spot.


I got back home, she had abandoned the nest and is now roosting with the others. I guess I'll dump out the eggs, and keep the bin around for my next broody.

 

[aart]

She was confined, sort of. I set the pen up around the corner of the yard where the gap was. I used the bin with the nest in it to block her out, along with some hardware cloth. The pen was low, about 28 inches high, but escaping the pen just took her further from her old nest spot.


I got back home, she had abandoned the nest and is now roosting with the others. I guess I'll dump out the eggs, and keep the bin around for my next broody.

Sigh...what a saga, they do put us thru the paces at times don't they?....you can only do what you can.

 

[ChaoSS]

New problem, new broody....

So now I have another hen gone broody, been broody for about a week, I'd say. Only problem is, I have a three part nesting box, and she's been switching back and forth which nest she's sitting in. She'll be on one for two or three days, and then switch.

I've been pulling the eggs out, because I don't want them to start developing, especially if she's not going to stay on them. I figured I'd give her ten to twelve eggs once she settles down, but I just went to get eggs and she's switched again.


Any ideas? I've thought about marking some eggs and leaving them, see if she comes back, figure maybe she leaves, and then when she comes back from eating she goes to the nest that the others have laid in. Oddly, I have a three part nest box and she's only sitting on the outside two.

What should I use to mark the eggs? Any other advice to keep her from switching around?


Also, stupid question, since I've never had a broody raise chicks, but I know some birds will bring their young food, will a hen do that? Or will I need to figure out a way to make sure the chicks can get in and out of the box? It's not really designed very well for that.

 

[ChristieB]

You will need to make a proper pen for the chicks, mumma hens take their chicks to food and show them how to eat and drink then take them back to the nest, if they can't get into the nest they will chill and die, other hens might peck and kill the intruding chicks, they could get stuck in tiny gaps etc .

 

[37 Caddy]

Is it an area where a small child could get in?,kind of hard to visualize as i am not there,if you could put someone small in there to flush her out.Chickens have a mind of their own when it comes to these things,they just seem to do everything opposite to what you think is best. I have one now that is broody,i dont have a rooster so the eggs are not fertilized,and it is too cold here for the chicks to live if they hatched,it has been as low as -33 here lately,but she still sits in the nest with no eggs,i take them every day from her. Harvey