Free range broody (?) hen advice

[GIGI1299]

Hi! I have 5 hens (2 light Brahma, 1 EE, 1 dark Brahma and a barred rock) and a rooster (barred rock) that I let out at the same time everyday. I got them as a group that was raised together and already starting to lay. I let them out everyday between 12-1 and they put their self up in the coop with an automatic door at sunset. I’ll go out and close the door to the run and do my head count.

A few days ago I was working outside and heard one of my hens clucking loud and causing a commotion so I ran to see what was happening. I saw her (Lt Brahma) up on top of my hay stack and assumed she ran up there to get away from a grass snake I had seen a week earlier. I “helped” her get back with the flock then went to look for the snake…found a nest of eggs on the TOP of the tall stack! Sneaky girl.

The next day she went straight to the spot and laid another.
I’m not opposed to baby chicks but I have no idea how to prep for this. I would love for her to sit on a few of my barred rock eggs and I placed a couple in the nest she had. So she’s up to about 11 eggs now.

My concerns:
1. the nest is really high
2. It’s not in an enclosure but in a well insulated barn that doesn’t get too hot or too cold. But it got down to 48 degrees last night and she wasn’t on the eggs. Will they still be viable?
3. She leaves them and only is out of her coop for about 6 hours. How long until I just start throwing them away because she’s just laying and not really broody?

I appreciate all advice! I’m adding pictures and hopefully a video so y’all can see where she’s at.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! I have 5 hens (2 light Brahma, 1 EE, 1 dark Brahma and a barred rock) and a rooster (barred rock) that I let out at the same time everyday. I got them as a group that was raised together and already starting to lay. I let them out everyday between 12-1 and they put their self up in the coop with an automatic door at sunset. I’ll go out and close the door to the run and do my head count.

A few days ago I was working outside and heard one of my hens clucking loud and causing a commotion so I ran to see what was happening. I saw her (Lt Brahma) up on top of my hay stack and assumed she ran up there to get away from a grass snake I had seen a week earlier. I “helped” her get back with the flock then went to look for the snake…found a nest of eggs on the TOP of the tall stack! Sneaky girl.

The next day she went straight to the spot and laid another.
I’m not opposed to baby chicks but I have no idea how to prep for this. I would love for her to sit on a few of my barred rock eggs and I placed a couple in the nest she had. So she’s up to about 11 eggs now.

My concerns:
1. the nest is really high
2. It’s not in an enclosure but in a well insulated barn that doesn’t get too hot or too cold. But it got down to 48 degrees last night and she wasn’t on the eggs. Will they still be viable?
3. She leaves them and only is out of her coop for about 6 hours. How long until I just start throwing them away because she’s just laying and not really broody?

I appreciate all advice! I’m adding pictures and hopefully a video so y’all can see where she’s at.

If you can create a place for her on the coop where she won't be bothered that would work, not sure about these eggs.

 

[GIGI1299]

I have a two story nesting box that has 4 and of course they all use one…and the actual inside of the coop is 2x8 with a 4x8 run. It’s quite a distance from the coop/run to the barn. I maybe can move her and the eggs to one of the boxes no one uses but there’s no guarantee she won’t be messed with. I have an egg eater I’m trying to find out which one it is too.

 

[Shadrach]

I used to "collect" my outside nesters at night. It could be quite exciting.
I collected them and their eggs and put them in one of the maternity units or, depending on their rank in the tribe, in one of the tribe coop nest boxes.
The nest morning I would let them out along with the rest of the tribes. If they went out and then came back to the nest then if I didn't want more chicks, I used to let them sit for three days to ensure their egg laying cycle had switched off and then confiscate the eggs and destroy the nest by removing all the bedding.
If I did want them to sit then I just left them with say half a dozen eggs and they got on with it.
If you do move your broody hen then it's very important that she can come and go from the nest at will. They need to get out and about on a daily basis to poop, eat, drink,socialize but very important, dust bathe.

Here is an article that may help you should you decide to let the hen sit and hatch.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...e-make-a-sitting-hens-job-so-difficult.74389/

This is one of the maternity coops.

 

[Mrs. K]

You don't have a broody hen, you have a hidden nest. Are all the eggs from only one hen? Or are several of them laying there?

She might go broody...but she hasn't yet if she is returning to the coop to roost at night. Eggs are basically inert until held to a temperature of around 100 degrees for more than 24 hours...So I would think all those eggs would be fine. I would not worry too much about the colder temperatures, unless you get a freeze hard enough to freeze and crack eggs.

If you move those eggs, I would not expect her to set on them. She might just keep laying there.

But as to the height - it is a non-issue, hens can get chicks down from rather very high places.

Mrs K

 

[SmiYa0126]

You don't have a broody hen, you have a hidden nest. Are all the eggs from only one hen? Or are several of them laying there?

She might go broody...but she hasn't yet if she is returning to the coop to roost at night. Eggs are basically inert until held to a temperature of around 100 degrees for more than 24 hours...So I would think all those eggs would be fine. I would not worry too much about the colder temperatures, unless you get a freeze hard enough to freeze and crack eggs.

If you move those eggs, I would not expect her to set on them. She might just keep laying there.

But as to the height - it is a non-issue, hens can get chicks down from rather very high places.

Mrs K

I didn't even think about that, that's true!

 

[SmiYa0126]

I used to "collect" my outside nesters at night. It could be quite exciting.
I collected them and their eggs and put them in one of the maternity units or, depending on their rank in the tribe, in one of the tribe coop nest boxes.
The nest morning I would let them out along with the rest of the tribes. If they went out and then came back to the nest then if I didn't want more chicks, I used to let them sit for three days to ensure their egg laying cycle had switched off and then confiscate the eggs and destroy the nest by removing all the bedding.
If I did want them to sit then I just left them with say half a dozen eggs and they got on with it.
If you do move your broody hen then it's very important that she can come and go from the nest at will. They need to get out and about on a daily basis to poop, eat, drink,socialize but very important, dust bathe.

Here is an article that may help you should you decide to let the hen sit and hatch.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...e-make-a-sitting-hens-job-so-difficult.74389/

This is one of the maternity coops.

What are the dimensions of this? Is it good for more than one broody?

 

[Shadrach]

I didn't even think about that, that's true!

Mrs. K is correct in that you may not have a broody....yet.
If your hen has been laying her eggs in the coop or the same place for some time and she suddenly switches to an outside nest, she does this for a reason and the most probable reason is she is building a clutch and intends to sit on them. This is what I've found to be the case.

If she layed eggs in lots of other places before then going broody may not be the outcome.

 

[Shadrach]

What are the dimensions of this? Is it good for more than one broody?

I don't have the dimensions any more or access to the coop.
Perhaps this can give you a better idea of the scale.
It's only suitable for one broody and less than six chicks.