how to remove eggs from 'wild 'broodies without alarming the neighbourhood???

[strangeanimal]

Hi all ,

I'm having two free rangers sitting on (not a clutch anymore ) a mountain of fertile eggs wherefrom already chicks hatched , the situation doesn't allow me at this point to keep them and a farm will have the eggs (some half hatched out already so it is actually little bit of emergency ) . The issue here is that the two ladies have a great hidingspot and sit to hatch like two lovers between a heavy plate in steel and the wall , also when I want to reach the eggs I have to do it with a fishnet because the plate is too heavy and the hens were clever enough to lay the pile of eggs totally at the end of where they got in .. now it is dark so I d like to remove all eggs and put non fertile under them but my question again here is simply ' how can I remove their eggs without sudden excessive screaming from them since they aren't used to a hand ... they also do not see me feeding them , they simply live in trees and this time of year so it seems in very small areas beneath , I'm worried to scare them off if I can reach the eggs and they would start to scream , the neighbours already complained about them , more the roosters in the trees that crow each time they see little light ... So having them noisy now is totally out of option but so is the keeping of the hatching .
Any suggestions please ?

 

[strangeanimal]

anyone ? in Belgium we're already passed midnite and by day it is gonna be useless to try , the roo's in the trees defend that nest way too good , so do the hens too and big chances there are again new chicks , which is best NOT in their views , now I can still put them inside and keep them clean while tomorrow they get picked up , well today thus ... they arent used to a hand so would they start to go nuts or can I just scoop up eggs under them and slip slightly warmed up non fertile eggs under them without them getting all shaken up ? ty

 

[aart]

Sorry, I have no idea how to manage 'wild' broody hens.
Are you 'keeping' these birds 'wild' because you can't have them at your house?

Not sure there is any way to take eggs or chicks from a hen and not have her make noise.

 

[strangeanimal]

Sorry, I have no idea how to manage 'wild' broody hens.
Are you 'keeping' these birds 'wild' because you can't have them at your house?

Not sure there is any way to take eggs or chicks from a hen and not have her make noise.

well , they live on land I rent now , because there are five houses on , I started with a lot at the start and lots of them back then moved to my own house and the most were placed there before all houses were rented , the woman in one of the houses loves walking in the yard and she didnt mind about the chickens , better yet she liked them to stay but all she does ofcourse is feeding them and calling me if she believes there is something wrong . I can't get more chicks now so I do have to get the eggs out , if not chicks yet !few have hatched out so this means : hurry .
Well , I'll find out and the neighbourhood will have to excuse me for once if they start to be upset . never done this on free rangers either but First time 4 everything ?

 

[bobbi-j]

Can you reach your arm in where they are? If so, maybe try to take the eggs and babies after dark? They may not be quite so noisy then. Why would you put infertile eggs under them after taking the others? Leave them without eggs and babies, and they might break their broodiness.

 

[aart]

Sounds like all the birds need to be removed from that property.
Do you own the property, or does someone else own it?

Grabbing them at night to relocate would the easiest,
well after dark when they are stupefied with sleep.
Yep, it will be noisy...but then they will be gone and no more worries there.

 

[strangeanimal]

i can tell that it is true that freeranged chickens get some kind of extra sense to know when there is an '' intruder '' , I was not able to get the eggs under them out and also the eggs bought to replace them they simply refuse , I heard there is one hen walking around with chicks today so that is not good ... they looked a sleep but they are so quikly awake it was impossible to remove eggs , we tried and they defend themselfs very well , including the roosters are now taking watch ! each time the hen with chicks walks around there are roosters protecting her and also roo's AND hens are staying on that pile of eggs we noticed one in the trees , one on the ground behind the nest ( a bush ) and two other hens sitting on the eggs taking turns or staying on it together , this night it was a white one with a brown , the brown is one that is there every night and day but the white one I did not see before on the nest . Anyone free ranging and having a nest ??? how do they act with you please ?? these breeds are the old english games bantams and the normal old english games together ...very nasty mean birds if it comes to protecting !

 

[strangeanimal]

Can you reach your arm in where they are? If so, maybe try to take the eggs and babies after dark? They may not be quite so noisy then. Why would you put infertile eggs under them after taking the others? Leave them without eggs and babies, and they might break their broodiness.

hi , once hatched a hen takes of and hides elsewhere , the area is too big too find her and the babies , there are already few walking around with chicks , but only visable like once or twice a day and they hide into the bushes etc so unfurtunately they still sit on that pile of eggs ( wherefrom visable babies coming out soon ) can't reach with my arm either , had to go for it with a net to catch them first but it didn't go , got attacked by two roosters too ( boyfriend had to deal with the broodies who seemed to have been pecking seriously ) ... big problem since the people living there are not ALL happy with the chickens , intention is to get them sold as quik as possible and few shall stay in a coop with their wing clipped , however I do not feel good about the idea as they are used to it to live freely ....

 

[strangeanimal]

Sounds like all the birds need to be removed from that property.
Do you own the property, or does someone else own it?

Grabbing them at night to relocate would the easiest,
well after dark when they are stupefied with sleep.
Yep, it will be noisy...but then they will be gone and no more worries there.

hi , yes indeed , I feel sevearly bad about it but it is bad for business , few houses are happy with them , others not , they HATE the chickens being in the ' yard ' , one got killed by an old man living there who has doves , he reported to me in writing ' chickens of property steal food from my doves , they get in at dark and take what they like , I can't put my feed anywhere or those stupid animals get in , no matter where i put it ! '' he followed his writing with ' smell ' , constant noise , feathers everywhere , poo everywhere ... so yes they need to be removed there as fast as I can , thing is I do not even know how many there are , lots of roosters is what I know and also hens but they are free ranged so guess you know how good at hiding they are ? their wings are never clipped and they live mainly in trees there , if not there they find hidingspots enough , I got three months to take them all away and all are for sale ( can not keep more than 15-20 birds in a coop used to being free ) , the property belongs to me and my siblings , we couldn't afford to buy eachother out so we made that arrangement as there was a fight about who was going to live there which we all wanted but all that one same house ofcourse , that one is going to be empty the first of august . They do sleep but are easily woken up by the slightest move ( even when they hear you they are ALERT ) breed : Old English Games + Old English Games Bantam