How do i move a broody hen?

Dylon

Songster
7 Years
Jan 5, 2013
289
12
108
Brewton, AL
See, the thing is, I have 50 hens. While I do have plenty of nest boxes, they favor certain ones. My golden sex link has gone broody and is in her second week of incubation, and guess which nest box she picked? Yep! One of the favorite ones... I actually have to wire the front shut during most of the day because if I don't I will find 2 or more hens in the broodys box, actually laying eggs on top of her. I hate having to wire her box shut and I feel like I'm locking her in, though I know she only leaves the nest once a day.

By now you are probably asking yourself "why doesn't he move the broody?"... The answer: I have tried! It stresses her out and she won't sit on the eggs. She never settled down until I let her back to the nest box in the coop. I have tried several different places to put her, and I always mover her at night, but as soon as the sun rises she freaks out and wants back to her box.

What should I do?

And also, all of my nest boxes look the same, so I have to make sure she goes back to the same box, and sometimes I have to put her back in the right box
 
This was very similar to my experience when I let broodies sit on eggs in the coop with the others. I now have a separate broody area in the coop, walled off with chicken wire, maybe 5'x5'. I move the broody in there the day before I give her the "real" eggs. Maybe I've been lucky, but within a day or two, the have accepted the move, and hatched the eggs. Then a day or two after hatching, I open the pen so the mama can raise the chicks in with the flock. By the, mama and chicks are doing their best to get out of the pen.

Since yours is so resistant, I'd give it up, myself, and continue what you're doing -- and hope you get some chicks out of it. I've read they are a little more likely to accept a move if you move the whole nest, or if that's not possible, move the nesting material with them. For what it's worth.

Good luck!
 
You can mark the eggs - I like to draw around the middle of the egg with a sharpie, that way you don't have to disturb her much when checking on the eggs. I let my broodies sit wherever they choose, even if it's the "favorite" nest box. Then when the chicks hatch, I move the hen and her chicks to more private quarters for a week. I've never had an issue doing it this way. You do need to check on the eggs under the broody daily though, and remove any unmarked eggs that get added to the nest.
 

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