Illinois...

[Molpet]

The nesting boxes are too high off the ground for chicks to get in and out for food.

Mine have had chickes in a top nest box. Mine are dog cages from a shelter stacked so it has a door. The problem I had was an early hatch would go on a walkabout and not be able to get back. So I shut the door when it's lockdown and open when she is done.
Most of the time my hens use a different box after they hatch, even when I cleaned it out. I figure it's to prevent predators from finding them, hatching is a messy business.

 

[SnootyHen]

I hate to keep any food or water inside the coop but I'm also not sure I want to be moving a crate in and out since the dog crate I have is pretty big and has to go through the doors sideways when I use it in the run. I have a little one I use as broody jail but that probably isn't big enough for mama and babies and anything else.

I'm still not 100% sure we're doing this. Chicks are so stinking cute though!!!

 

[Faraday40]

While sitting on fake eggs, hen can stay in reg nest. A plastic storage tote works fine for a broody & her chicks. Make the move at night under cover of darkness. Some random garden netting (& clothes pins) or wire fencing / hardware cloth can be made into a lid. The hen & chicks would be fine in that for the 1st week. @homeschoolin momma has a nice looking storage container she modified into a brooder. Perhaps she'll share a pic.

Otherwise just use something on-hand for a lid. (It's not like the hen will jump out. It's more to make all the chickens think there's a barrier.) I let the broody & chicks become part of the flock fairly quickly, so when chicks are hoping on mama's back, it's time.

If you have a way to block off part of the coop or run, that section could be made into a brooder area. I like doing this so the other hens can see the chicks from day 1 - but not physically interact with them.

 

[Molpet]

Emu with the zoomies

https://fb.watch/c1YW-Sk1CP/

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Took some hunting but here is the picture of one of the totes.

You can kinda see the other one as well. It is hardware cloth hot glued in after the top was cut out. You can still close and lock the lid. My brooders are still in the pole barn yet. Need to get them out soon with all the eggs I set for the hatch-a-long.

 

[Justso]

Took some hunting but here is the picture of one of the totes.
View attachment 3041573
You can kinda see the other one as well. It is hardware cloth hot glued in after the top was cut out. You can still close and lock the lid. My brooders are still in the pole barn yet. Need to get them out soon with all the eggs I set for the hatch-a-long.

I have one similar, I used zip ties to secure the hardware cloth to the lid.

 

[Molpet]

Turkey hen just after sunset....in a 1 ft square chicken box.

 

[Faraday40]

Turkey hen just after sunset....in a 1 ft square chicken box.


View attachment 3042833

She probably thinks it's a perfect place to sit on her eggs!

 

[Faraday40]

My brooders are still in the pole barn yet. Need to get them out soon with all the eggs I set for the hatch-a-long.

You'll need both! Your shipped eggs are doing better than we expected.

 

[Molpet]

She probably thinks it's a perfect place to sit on her eggs!

She was still in it when I opened in the morning. And I seen an egg, but a couple hrs later it was gone. A different hen was next to the box and when she left 2 eggs were next to the box.
A different hen was in a different box of the same make in a different coop. Some how they get the egg in the box.