I have a hen that wants to be a mama/need advice please

[tamelroy]

As it says in the title I have a hen that is setting on 6 eggs.

My concern is to leave her in the coop when the chicks hatch. I have some very aggressive chickens out there. But I am afraid to move her, the last time with a different hen I moved her and 2 days later she broke all the eggs. I dunno know if she sensed something about the eggs or it was because I moved her.

Is there a certain way you guys move the hens? Please any help would be great, the only other time this has happen is with the one that broke the eggs.

TIA
Tracy

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have never moved a broody hen myself. My coop is set up so I can lock them in the nest they go broody in and open up a feeding, watering, and toilet area. I'll pass on what someone else does.

How to move a broody hen
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=162759

You will note that when they move them, they do not lock the hen in with the nest. After a couple of days, they just remove the outer box so the hen can come and go as she pleases. This still allows other hens to lay in her nest. I'm sure with many people this would be OK, but the main reason I would consider moving a broody is to lock her where the others cannot lay with her. The main reason I am concerned with others laying in her nest is that she might come back from her daily constitutional, find another hen on her nest, get confused, and go to another nest. I'll mark the eggs anyway and I don't mind checking under her once a day to see if others have laid new eggs in her nest, but I am not always around to be sure she goes back to the right nest.

I'd be concerned that she might poo in of her nest if I kept her locked in the box for two days, especially if she already has eggs. Maybe if it is dark enough and she thinks it is just one long night, she can hold it? The point about suffocating her is important. With this method you are keeping her without water for a long time. You sure don't want to keep her in a hot stuff box for that length of time. Dehydration is also a concern.

I'd suspect that making the nest she is going to as dark as possible, especially for the first few days, would help her accept the move. I don't think I'd leave her locked inside the two boxes quite like this person does but give her an option to get off, eat, drink, and go poo, realizing it probably does reduce the chance of her staying broody some. My main concerns are the heat and dehydration more than suffocation. But remember I have never moved a broody.

I'll include another thread that talks about why to move a broody. You may already know all this and may have made up your mind, but you might pick something up from this thread. At least you'll get a few different opinions or maybe someone else reading this thread can benefit.

Isolate a Broody? Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213218

Good luck with the broody.

It is an exciting time.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Last time I had a broody setting on eggs, I moved her in the middle of the night, and I just took her whole nest box and put it in an extra large dog crate, so she had room to leave her nest to do her business, and had food and water very close to her (also so when it was time, her chicks could get to the food and water too). Worked great. Then when the chicks were a couple of days old, I took the nest box away, because I wasn't sure they could get back up into it once she had gotten them out for foor and water.

 

[PunkinPeep]

i didn't read the advice about moving them in the night - until it was too late.

so i'll tell you what i did this last (and my first) time.

i let my girls stay up in the nest boxes they had picked, but when the babies started pipping, i put some chicken wire over the nest boxes so no one could get in and no one could fall out. after the babies were hatched, i moved the mamas and the babies to safer quarters.

next time i will probably try moving them in the night as was suggested.

 

[tamelroy]

thanks, I was scared if I moved her she would abandon the eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

She might abandon her eggs. There is no guarantee since you are dealing with living animals. I think some of these posts will help improve your chances a lot of her not abandoning her eggs, but none of us can guarantee what will happen. You obviously feel there are risks leaving her where she is, and I agree there are. Which approach is less risky I cannot tell you. That is for you to decide.

Good luck!

 

[wormtowndavis]

I had the first chick hatch today, yay! and candled the eggs and only kept 5 under her that looked to be about the same age. So, 3 ish days from now they all should be hatched. Can I move her and the chicks to a lower box once that happens (the box that she's currently in is about 3' off the ground), way too high for a chick to get back into. The water source we have would probably be too high for the chicks to get to. Argh, so much to learn! Is there any kind of online resource that has a list of sorts or instructions for over paranoid/completely clueless folks like me?