Half-broody hen

[PicketFarmer]

I have an almost mature hen (11 months) that I'm pretty sure is going broody. She's extremely protective of her favorite nesting box, clucks to her eggs, pecks at everyone (but me) whenever they check for eggs, started plucking her chest feathers, and I'm pretty sure she's stopped laying. The problem is, she only stays on the nest for about half the day, when she goes out to join the rest of the girls, which is when the other girls hop into the nest to lay their own eggs, and she roosts with everyone else at night. I'd like to help her become a mother, because I can tell that she wants to be one, but I'm not sure how to encourage her to stay on the eggs. She doesn't want to change nesting boxes, even after I switched some marked eggs to one of the lesser used boxes, and we don't have the space to build a maternity ward for her, so I was hoping that others here might have some tips on how to encourage her to go all the way.

 

[DobieLover]

I have an almost mature hen (11 months) that I'm pretty sure is going broody. She's extremely protective of her favorite nesting box, clucks to her eggs, pecks at everyone (but me) whenever they check for eggs, started plucking her chest feathers, and I'm pretty sure she's stopped laying. The problem is, she only stays on the nest for about half the day, when she goes out to join the rest of the girls, which is when the other girls hop into the nest to lay their own eggs, and she roosts with everyone else at night. I'd like to help her become a mother, because I can tell that she wants to be one, but I'm not sure how to encourage her to stay on the eggs. She doesn't want to change nesting boxes, even after I switched some marked eggs to one of the lesser used boxes, and we don't have the space to build a maternity ward for her, so I was hoping that others here might have some tips on how to encourage her to go all the way.

Put a box on it's side, like a cave but with all the flaps removed, on the floor in a corner of the coop and make a plush bowl shaped nest inside and put a few fake eggs in it. She has to be able to come and go from the nest at will. It will offer her a bit of privacy.
Keep removing the fresh laid eggs from the nest boxes multiple times a day if possible and if she gets in a box to set, show her the cozy private nest.
I'd also put rubber shelf liners in the nest boxes and remove the bedding to decrease her desire for those sites.
She may or may not take the bait and graft to the new site and start incubating the fake eggs around the clock.

 

[DearChicken]

It’s not easy to teach a chicken something, and you can’t really force her to be “fully” broody. Maybe you can get some fake eggs for her and hatch some chicks in an incubator? You can slip them under her at night and she’ll probably care for them. If she doesn’t, you’ll have to raise some chicks though. One of my hens was really not smart/a little dumb and kept on incubating different nest boxes, I ended up breaking her broodiness.

 

[PicketFarmer]

It’s not easy to teach a chicken something, and you can’t really force her to be “fully” broody. Maybe you can get some fake eggs for her and hatch some chicks in an incubator? You can slip them under her at night and she’ll probably care for them. If she doesn’t, you’ll have to raise some chicks though. One of my hens was really not smart/a little dumb and kept on incubating different nest boxes, I ended up breaking her broodiness.

We actually just hatched one chick today from an incubator, and two other eggs look like they're ready to hatch. I'd thought about introducing them to the broody girl, but wasn't sure how she'd take to them. I've read some horror stories about trying to get hens to bond with newly hatched chicks, even ones from their own eggs, so that kinda warned me off trying to get Mama to adopt any.

I might try adding the private broody box on the floor and hopefully, she'll take to it. I'd really like to give her a break from Richie the rooster, since she also happens to be his favorite and has the bare back to show for it, and am hoping that I can hatch two chicks with one egg by helping her go broody: let her be a mom, and give her a rest from the overzealous papa.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've had hens just flip a switch. One minute they are not at all broody and the next minute they are fully committed. But I've also had hens act like they might be thinking about it but not really switch for over two weeks. They may show all kinds of signs but never go broody enough to deserve eggs. My test if a broody is worthy of hatching eggs is that she has to spend two consecutive nights on the nest instead of sleeping in her favorite spot. One night is not enough, it has to be two consecutive nights. I don't care that much what he does in daytime, eggs are not going to hatch if she doesn't cover them at night.

I would not trust yours with eggs or live chicks, not if she is roosting at night.