Had to move broody hen and eggs

[flapjackfarm]

My Old English Game Bantam kept disappearing. Come to find out, she had herself a nice little nest of 12 eggs in the overhang of our barn. I didn't feel it was the safest place for baby chicks to hatch, so I moved her today to a large dog crate in our garage.

However, I'm nervous that she'll abandon her eggs. Can anyone give me insight on this breeds broodiness and likeliness to adjust?

 

[sumi]

Did your hen settle down with the nest in the new location?

In my experience with broody hens of any breed, they do not take kindly to being moved.

 

[flapjackfarm]

She did end up settling in. Last I checked on her last night she ended up scooting most of the eggs underneath her. There were a couple hanging out, but I figured she would readjust and get them all.

 

[sumi]

That's good to hear! My broody hens misplace eggs all the time, I just pop them back under them. Keep us posted on the hatch, please!

 

[flapjackfarm]

I was happy! She was a little distraught at first, but she seems to really want to be a momma. I just didn't think it was safe for her to hatch out babies in an overhang where they chicks could fall. I wasn't even planning on letting my girls hatch eggs, but by time I found her, there had been a few days of incubating by momma hen!

 

[sumi]

She sounds like a good broody and from what I heard OEG are excellent mothers. I have one (LF) with some chicks at the moment, she's awesome.

You beat me, I found a sneaky broody hen years ago ONE DAY before her chicks hatched! All 12 of them

She was hiding under a plant next to a path where I walked past her numerous time daily, none the wiser until I watched her one day and finally found her nest.

 

[flapjackfarm]

I think she'll be a great momma.
That's crazy!! They're so sneaky about it. They're in a fenced run and obviously their coop, which is a 16x17 2 story "barn". I looked all over! Then I released there is about an 18" overhang with a flat surface and sure enough, she was between floor joices in that overhang!

 

[sumi]

I would never have found her (your hen)!

 

[flapjackfarm]

I'm not sure what made me think to look there!

 

[sumi]

Ran out of everywhere else to look? lol Good thing you found her