First time with a broody hen.

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi All,

I am into my first year of raising chickens. I have a hen that went broody
a few weeks ago. I have some concerns that others who have experience
with these ladies could put my mind at ease.

1. I do not have a seperate coop or house for a broody hen.
So what I have done is I am using a large dog Kennel as
her brooder that has shaving, food, and water for her. Is this
set up okay??

2. Since I cannot lock her up in the coop with the others because I cannot
fit the Kennel in the door I just take her kennel inside the house and set it
in the laundry room at night to protect her from predators. Is it okay to move
a broody hen like this to protect her.

3. I have noticed that the last few days she has not left the nest for anything.
Before she would roam the backyard a time or two during the day. Now she will
not move at all. I have food and water in the Kennel close to her so she does
not have to go far for water or food. But she is not getting up to go to the bathroom
or stroll the backyard. Is this normal or is something wrong?

Thanks, any other advice or information that would be helpful is most welcome.

 

[sourland]

Make sure that she leaves the nest to defecate. When food and water is a 'beaks reach' away, there is no reason to leave the nest. In such instances hens frequently defecate in the nest which can spoil the clutch. It is also important that they stretch their legs and exercise a bit. It sounds as if everything else is fine. Good luck for a successful hatch.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Make sure that she leaves the nest to defecate. When food and water is a 'beaks reach' away, there is no reason to leave the nest. In such instances hens frequently defecate in the nest which can spoil the clutch. It is also important that they stretch their legs and exercise a bit. It sounds as if everything else is fine. Good luck for a successful hatch.

Ok, so I probably should make her move a bit more to get to food and water. Right?

She pretty much just sits on the nest and does not move much.

Since she is not leaving the nest much should I pick her up and force
her to move around a bit?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get the hang of this broody thing.

Thanks Again

 

[sourland]

Once or twice a day physically remove her from the nest, and place her in her run/exercise area. Most hens accept this handling, but some are more reactive. If she is of the latter sort you may have to adapt your technique to get her to leave the nest.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Ok, when I remover her will she go back to the nest v.s. roost with the others at night?

I assume this will not break her of being broody, correct?

 

[sourland]

Keep an eye on her, but if in an area that she knows and is accustomed to, there is no reason that she should not return to her nest. If she is 'homed in' on her nest site all should be fine. But monitor the situation.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Keep an eye on her, but if in an area that she knows and is accustomed to, there is no reason that she should not return to her nest. If she is 'homed in' on her nest site all should be fine. But monitor the situation.

Ok, I do have a large Backyard where the ladies roam. If she gets "lost" and does not go back to the nest how much
time should I give her before physically taking her back to the nest?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[sourland]

Hens on their own will spend as much as a half an hour away from the nest. Hopefully she is a mellow sort of bird and all that I am suggesting can be implemented without too much disturbance.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hens on their own will spend as much as a half an hour away from the nest. Hopefully she is a mellow sort of bird and all that I am suggesting can be implemented without too much disturbance.

Ok thanks. I am assuming that they will spend half an hour away from the nest a day. Am I assuming correct?

She is a very mellow lady. She has not even pecked me once. I expected her to when I put her in the Dog Kennel
but she took to it quite nicely.

While we are on the subject of the dog Kennel. I am placing the Kennel with her in it in my laundry room at night to protect her
from predators because I cannot fit it in the door to the coop. I have raised coop.

This is not a mistake is it? So far she has been fine with it but I don't know if there in any unseen harm in doing this.

Thanks So much again.

 

[triplepurpose]

Hens on their own will spend as much as a half an hour away from the nest. Hopefully she is a mellow sort of bird and all that I am suggesting can be implemented without too much disturbance.

I used to worry about this a lot in the past but I've been learning to trust the hens more. Most of them know what they are doing. If it's warm out, sometimes they will stay off for what seems like quite a while--but they always know when they need to go back. Look at it this way: if a wild or free-roaming hen were hatching eggs, she would have to leave the nest and possibly go some distance to find water, search around for insects to eat, etc. If the eggs couldn't survive that time easily, there wouldn't be any chickens around anymore--they are the experts, not me.