I have a small old cupboard in the hen house with a few holes drilled in the door. When a hen goes broody I make her a nest in an old drawer and put it in the cupboard with her hatching eggs in it. I put food and water in there, put her on the nest and close the door and once a day I open it and let her out whilst I do chores. I scatter mixed corn and that way she eats with the flock for a brief period, has a poop and possibly a dust bath.... In 15-20mins she is heading back to her nest. I make sure the nest in the cupboard is the only one with eggs in it at that time, to encourage her to choose the right one. If she gets the wrong one, I wait till she's settled and then lift her into the correct one and close the door. After a few days, they get into the routine of coming out when the door opens and going back to the correct nest. Because I time it so that I am doing chores whilst she is out, it takes me no extra time and I know that she is safely back on the eggs when I leave and can't be disturbed by the other hens. She gets peace and quiet and darkness which are what broody hens like. When the chicks hatch she stays in the cupboard with them for a couple of days and then I let her out with the flock. I have a large, mixed free range flock and this set up works really well for me.
