How do you move a broody hen

[AmericanMom]

Mark the eggs you want her to have and check at the end of the day for any new eggs. I just make two circles on the egg with a Sharpie, one circle the long way and one the short so I can tell at a glance which eggs belong.

As long as you remove them daily, you can still use them. Sometimes another hen will lay in that nest, if not with a broody them while the broody is out for her daily constitutional. Believe it or not, some broodies have moved eggs from other nests to theirs, even if the nests are elevated.

All eggs are marked and nesting boxes have separators so no way to move from one to the other without breaking them... I checked this morning and all 9 are the only ones in the nest

 

[azelgin]

Now in my chicken yard, hatch day is no problem, I let the mama raise thie chicks in with the flock, anyway.

That's what we used to do, before the flock got to the size we have now (70? I think?). Now, there are just to many curious hens checking out the new arrivals, for mom to protect them. We decided on confinement for new hatches, after having a hen lose half (killed) her chicks to the other hens.

 

[AmericanMom]

OK... Problems have arose...

Went out at my normal time, before 8 am and all was well, Momma sitting on eggs, chooks waiting by the gate for their morning treats, cleaned the coop and came back in to start my days work... Went back out at 11 and all heck had broken loose.. Momma was off the nest eating and doing her thing but when I went in to check and make sure new eggs hadn't been laid saw 3 eggs broken on the floor, one had broke in the nest and the other 5 eggs are covered in egg goo and dirt, walked back out to look at the Momma and she was walking funny, upon closer inspection noticed she had an egg shell stuck to her breast.. Picked her up and cleaned broken egg shell off her and she went right back in and is once again sitting on the remaining eggs.. Cleaned up broken shells (yes, they had started developing) and cleaned egg goo that was running down the front of the boxes off... I know I am not going to mess with her in the daylight hours but I am thinking I will make another attempt at moving her tonight.. I am so afraid of breaking her but if she was attacked I want to make sure she is in a safe place so she can hatch her eggs.. good or bad idea?
Should I clean the eggs or leave them as is? Should I replace them with fresh eggs (she is heading into day 4 with the present eggs)
All opinions welcome.. I'm pretty new to the whole broody thing

 

[Ariel188]

I've seen a hen get her chicks down form a10' high hay loft. Mama says jump and they do. A 4' high coop doesn't concern me. You can move her after the hatch if you wish but I would not.

If she ran back to her nest, you did not fix an area where she could not do that. Also if you let her out in the morning you did not leave her locked in that nest all day. But some hens will just not be moved. You may have one of those.

WOW really they can hatch in a coop 4 ft off the ground? I was also worried about this. Does mama hen just walk up and down the ramp and the babies follow? It may be too steap for them to walk back up.

 

[Ariel188]

Now in my chicken yard, hatch day is no problem, I let the mama raise thie chicks in with the flock, anyway. Or if you're talking about the height, as Ridgerunner said, a 5' descent is no problem for them.

This is SO awesome to hear. I have had 2 hens go broody and when I tired to move them to a box on the ground they both refused it. One broke the fertile eggs in her temper tantrum. I will just leave them on the nest box now and let the hens figure out how to get their chicks out of the coop with the steep ramp!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That’s really lousy news. That sounds like a skunk, rat, or possum but I’m not sure. It could be many things. Since it was daylight after dawn I’d lean toward a skunk. Was there any smell? Often you can get the skunk smell just from them having been in the area. They may have gotten broken by her trying to fight something off.

Another possibility is that she was fighting another hen that tried to lay in there with her. I’ve had two broodies fight over the eggs and about half the eggs were destroyed. That stuff doesn’t happen often but it does happen. That’s the only time I’ve ever had a problem with another hen. I have had a snake eat eggs out from under a broody but those eggs just disappeared.

I’d certainly try to move her again. If something is getting into her nest, she won’t be able to hatch before the eggs are eaten or destroyed. That happened with the snake. I had to hatch in an incubator and give her the chicks.

If the eggs are dirty I’d start with fresh ones. The eggs with that egg goo on them can easily get bacteria inside and go rotten. I wouldn’t take that chance.

If it was her fighting another hen you may never know what happened. If it was a predator of some sort, you need to try to figure out what you have and deal with it. It will be back. If you have a live trap sized for a raccoon, I suggest baiting it with peanut butter. Just wad some up in a paper towel and toss that back behind the trip lever. Peanut butter is pretty much a universal bait. Another suggestion is to try to get some tracks so you can identify it. Smooth out some dirt where it is likely to walk or even spread some flour to help get prints.

 

[AmericanMom]

That’s really lousy news. That sounds like a skunk, rat, or possum but I’m not sure. It could be many things. Since it was daylight after dawn I’d lean toward a skunk. Was there any smell? Often you can get the skunk smell just from them having been in the area. They may have gotten broken by her trying to fight something off.

Another possibility is that she was fighting another hen that tried to lay in there with her. I’ve had two broodies fight over the eggs and about half the eggs were destroyed. That stuff doesn’t happen often but it does happen. That’s the only time I’ve ever had a problem with another hen. I have had a snake eat eggs out from under a broody but those eggs just disappeared.

I’d certainly try to move her again. If something is getting into her nest, she won’t be able to hatch before the eggs are eaten or destroyed. That happened with the snake. I had to hatch in an incubator and give her the chicks.

If the eggs are dirty I’d start with fresh ones. The eggs with that egg goo on them can easily get bacteria inside and go rotten. I wouldn’t take that chance.

If it was her fighting another hen you may never know what happened. If it was a predator of some sort, you need to try to figure out what you have and deal with it. It will be back. If you have a live trap sized for a raccoon, I suggest baiting it with peanut butter. Just wad some up in a paper towel and toss that back behind the trip lever. Peanut butter is pretty much a universal bait. Another suggestion is to try to get some tracks so you can identify it. Smooth out some dirt where it is likely to walk or even spread some flour to help get prints.

It rained pretty good here last night, the path leading to the coop had no tracks other than the chooks..It wasn't a predator, of that I am positive, I believe it was another hen trying to get into her nest and she was fighting with her, (the broken egg stuck to her leads me to go with this) I am going to try and move her again and set her with new eggs, If she refuses to sit and continues to want to brood in the box I will sit her with dummy eggs and buy her some chicks. . Two of the 9 eggs she was sitting were her own, I didn't check each and every egg to make sure which ones we dropped but if they are messy I'll have to chuck them....shoot!!!

 

[azelgin]

Just in time for this thread!
Five days ago, one of our Maran hens decided to go broody. I did a head count in the coops and it looks like we have room for a few more hens. That, and there are a few friends that would like a couple of chickens. No promises on what they will ends up with.
We moved her Thursday morning to the broody pen, where there is only 1 nest to choose from. We gave her three golf balls and locked her in the nest for the day. I let her out that night and the next morning she was still setting. She spent all day on the nest today, so, tonight we gave her a dozen eggs to take care of. She pulled them under herself and seems to be all settled in. I'll let you all know how she does. The eggs are mutts, so, it will be a real interesting to figure out the parentage, with 70 hens and 5 different roosters.

 

[peeplovers]

We have something similar going on here, so very happy for all the feedback!! Our silkie is sitting on 16 eggs. We've been keeping her in the large coop and shoving everyone else in the smaller coop which we reserved for brooding and chick rearing since when we tried to move her once she abandoned her eggs and ran back to the other coop...Arrrgh.
So pray tell how does one 'Confine' a chicken to a nest? I can only picture cardboard stapled all around it floor to ceiling, which seems suffocating and logistically challenging to achieve!!!
Also: a 4 foot drop off for hatchlings is really safe?? really? but they don't have wing feathers yet. really??! thank you wise experienced ones : )
Tatyanna

 

[azelgin]

So pray tell how does one 'Confine' a chicken to a nest? I can only picture cardboard stapled all around it floor to ceiling, which seems suffocating and logistically challenging to achieve!!!
Also: a 4 foot drop off for hatchlings is really safe?? really? but they don't have wing feathers yet. really??! thank you wise experienced ones : )
Tatyanna

I have a hardware cloth screen, in a frame, that I screw to the front of the nest. My nest boxes are built into the wall, flush on the inside of the coop, accessible from the outside. I close off the other nest with the same thing.
Have you ever seen how baby chicks are handled during sexing, at the hatchery? A four foot drop is nothing. Imagine being flung by your leg, into a big box of chicks, few of feet away. And, think about their trip through the mail! Chickens are a lot tougher than people give them credit for.