First time Brooder

[MyChicks]

Hello and good morning from NEPA! We have a brooder woohoo! Now the story and questions......we went away for four days and had a pet sitter tend to our animals food and water needs....upon return one of our new bantams (which was purchased for it's broodiness) has taken to sitting on 20 eggs (wow!). She does come out maybe once/twice a day to eat drink which is good....I have since marked the eggs of the orginal lays by our comets and bantam...but what is happening now is the chickens are continuing to lay in the same nest box whenever she gets up to eat/drink. Can I disturb her when she's nesting to get the unwanted eggs for hatching or should I play hit and miss and wait for her to move to take out the unmarked eggs? Also are there concerns for the other chickens when the babies hatch? I appreciate any information ya'll can give as this is our first hatching by chicken mommy experience. Thanks to all in advance!

 

[MyChicks]

Bump..

 

[Gypsy07]

I've just had my first broody hen ever, and after asking about it on a different forum, I was advised to separate her from the rest of the flock to give her some peace and quiet and to stop the other hens laying in her nestbox when she got off the eggs to eat and drink. I was also told that it's best to have them separated so that when the chicks hatch, they're not at any risk from the other hens and because it's best for new chicks to be kept shut in for the first few days but the other hens will still want to go outside.

I took the advice and installed my broody in her very own broody coop, and she looks a lot happier in there on her own now. If you move your bird, do it as quickly and ans calmly as possible, and do it at night to cause the least possible disturbance for her. Good luck!

 

[MyChicks]

We're presently building another coop so this is an option and we'll put up some fencing in the run to keep them seperated during their outings in the day. I have also read about horror stories of hens killing the babies...so this is good to know.

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

20. She' s a go getter now isn't she

Most of the time the other hens are not a problem with new chicks. Like everything with personalities you still will want to watch them. I do not have a problem removing new eggs from my broodies either. I'd try to bother her the least I can though.