how do you get a broody hen off the nest without breaking her broody?

[and-roo]

my hen is broody in the hens' favorite nesting box and i haven't gotten an egg from any of the other hens since she's been broody. when she get's off the nest for her 10 min. break, it's usually when i'm not home and i think the other hens are laying in the same nest box that she's in and then she lays on them to try and hatch them. i already have 4 eggs under her that i don't want to get crowded out or smashed. but how do i get her off without hurting her or the eggs? any info would be helpful.

 

[afarhat8]

hopefully the nest that the hen is sitting in is a single nest, and not attached to other nests all in a row. if it is a stand-alone nest (as you can see, i don't know what to call it, but it's just one nest without being part of a group of nests), wait until it is nighttime, then place a towel or other piece of material over the open side of the box so that the hen is in complete darkness. gently lift the entire nest, and carefully place it where you want her to be. this will probably be in a pen of her own, where the other hens can't get to her nest. when you have the nest where you want it, remove the towel and leave her alone. chances are good she will continue to set in the new location, same nest. be sure to have her waterer and feeder set up in the new pen before you take her there, so that you don't have to spend any more time doing this than nessesary. hope this helps, and good luck.

 

[and-roo]

the nest is in a row of four attached nests and i can't move it. could i shut the other hens out and pick her up, get the eggs, then put her back? i tried reaching under her but she attacked my hand

.

 

[afarhat8]

i don't know how many other chickens you have, or if you would have a place to keep them for three weeks, but if you can make some temporary quarters for your other girls, keeping the broody in the same place in the same nest would be the best solution. one potential problem - if there are already too many eggs for her to cover, she may have rotated each and every one of them out from under her at some point. if they got too chilled, none would hatch, even if you could tell the originals from the others. if she's only been sitting a short time, say less than a week, it may be best to start with fresh, fertile eggs slipped under her at night.

 

[chiqita]

the nest is in a row of four attached nests and i can't move it. could i shut the other hens out and pick her up, get the eggs, then put her back? i tried reaching under her but she attacked my hand

.

can you cover the front of the nest with a towel or something pinned up? That might convince your other hens to lay elsewhere. Just make sure your broodies either has food and water in tehre or will go in and out over the cover.

 

[and-roo]

sorry, i haven't been on here for a while.

a friend of ours told us it would be fine just to pick her up, so we did and there was 4 fake marble egg that she had rolled under herself from the other nest boxes (we were trying to get the other hens to lay in the other nest boxes), 4 eggs from the other hens (one had cracked and it was a mess), and the 4 eggs that i gave her to hatch (all fine). i think i'll have to do this again pretty soon or try and catch the time when she's off the nest.

it's been 11 days since i put the eggs under her and i'm really excited, this being my first time.

 

[and-roo]

2 more days (friday)! i caught her off the nest the other day and all that was under her was the four eggs, and one had a big hole in it

! you could see the mostly developed chick and it was all bloody and yolky

,it was really sad. now all that's left is the 3 orp eggs and i'm really hoping they all hatch

.

 

[and-roo]

they all hatched yesterday and it looks like there's a splash chick, a blue chick, and maybe another blue or black chick(i can't tell). now i'm trying to get the egg shells out from underneath her.

(5-19-13) never mind, there's only two.i had to move them to the garage though, because i needed to clean out the nest box and the rest off the coop and i didn't want them in there while i did it.