Inconvenient nest area

Melontine

Songster
May 26, 2019
335
1,128
226
Maine
One of my appenzeller spitzhauben hens decided to make a secret nest and go broody. We'd thought we lost her for a while until I see her hop out of the well to help herself to food and water one morning.
The well is just a wooden decorative one with a spout in the middle. No water or anything at the bottom, just dirt and dead leaves. The well is about four feet deep and the open space around the spout is pretty narrow, and then a roof over top makes it an awkward space for a human to try and squeeze into.
So I can't reach her or the eggs.
There are so many eggs, though I do think she tossed one from the nest since it's on the opposite side of the well from her now. It's hard to believe she can actually fit so many under her. All are appenzeller eggs (well, appenzeller/oprington mixes would hatch from them, but they were laid by an appenzeller).

The roof and high walls should keep them safe from the wind/rain. But it's not predator-proof and I can't reach them to move them. No clue how the chicks would even get out should they hatch.
I'd heard appenzellers weren't a very broody breed, but my girls seem to disagree. And they always want to do things their way instead of sleeping where I want them or nesting where they're meant to.
I'm glad she's not gone. And it may be nice to get some more buff oprington-looking chicks with crazy hair. But really? What am I supposed to do to help you miss?

Ideas for now-
Set up a temporary lid for during the night to keep predators out of the well.
Set up a permanent lid once the hen is moved out to keep chickens out of the well.
Find a way to safely move the eggs/chicks/hen out of the well.
Find a way to get food/water in and out of the well.
 
Any chance you can drill a hole in the side of the wood well when mom is off getting food and water? The hole could be at the base so the chicks could get out. You could attach a door over the hole similar to the ones on the back of birdhouses.
 
It would seem you must make an access in the side, make it predator proof or move the nest. Is this well moveable, can you lift it or tilt it to gain access? Maybe with someone helping?
Do you know how many days the eggs have been incubating?
Can you take photos so people can understand the construction of this thing?
I have Spitzhaubens too, they have not ever gone broody, but the hen I gave a neighbor did. She disappeared and they assumed she was dead until she came back recently w 4 chicks.
I hope it all goes well, let us know with updates!
Sue
 
She will be quiet and has made it this far without a predator noticing her but once chicks are born it will be far riskier.

Since the chicks will need to be removed to eat as soon as they are born I only see 2 options. open up an access hole or option 2 is fish them out with a fishing net. you can buy kids seaside fishing nets with 3 foot handles for very cheap

If the eggs can be left then option 2 would be least destructive but I would not trust that many eggs and she might be laying more.

So maybe when she is out feeding fish out the eggs with a net, close up the hole and stick her where you want her. I can't say it will work but that's my suggestion.

If you do do it candle the eggs to see what is going on as it sounds like you might want to remove a few also
 
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I think the eggs are probably about a week along as that’s when she first disappeared.

I’m not very handy but I’ll definitely consider drilling a hole in. Will have to watch with tools ready for her to hop out again.
For a net, the one I have has a long handle making it difficult to wield with the roof there and the bar across the center. Maybe a smaller net, I imagine the eggs will be a bit more difficult to move once they hatch.

Some pictures;

AE116A88-2F28-4E32-99A6-843FE5D1AF2B.jpeg
3F6F81B7-C980-492D-A914-152E3D7888E8.jpeg
262CA892-60FD-46C2-ABB6-47BD1756194C.jpeg
EB29CD99-65EA-4F56-B261-9A880696E47E.jpeg
1B538545-A4DB-4F21-9007-27B7C461AEE9.jpeg
 
You've got yourself a mess. The situations these chickens put is in! :th

Hens hide nests and go broody where predators can get to them all the time. Sometimes predators find them but as in SueT's post, not always. There are some risks there. I have no idea how much danger she is in.

I've had a hen hide a nest and bring off 18 chicks. I never found the nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with. I've also had a hen have trouble covering 10 eggs the size she laid. I think I see 14 eggs in the nest. It looks like she can cover them all. It sounds like you want her to hatch the chicks.

You can improve predator security by putting something over that at night. Night is when the risk is greatest. Another option might be to keep a cover over that at all times that lets in light but keeps predators out and drop hanging food and water containers down for her. Leave her locked in until she hatches. But that leaves you with a problem, removing the chicks when they hatch.

How hard would it be to remove the pump and the boards it is setting on? That may give you good enough access to remove the eggs. Probably not the chicks but maybe. I'm thinking of one of those things you see advertised for old people like me to pick things off of high shelves.

I could see setting up an isolation pen for that broody hen. There is a lot on information on moving a broody hen on the forum but a lot of that won't apply to you since you don't have access. You would need a pen you can lock the broody in with a nest, food, and water and not much else. Lock her in there with the nest and eggs until they hatch. The risk here is that the hen will break from being broody but often it works. But how do you catch that hen to put her in there?

I could see putting the eggs in an incubator, hatching and raising them yourself if the broody hen won't accept the move.

I can't tell how hard it would be to remove one of those walls so you either have access or the chicks could walk out once they hatch.

How hard would it be to dig under one of those walls so after the chicks hatch they can leave by that tunnel? Then you fill that tunnel back in and put a top so the chickens can't get back in. I kind of like this idea, you don't destroy anything.
 
I thought it was a tiny hole she was using to get in and out. A kid could fit in there no problem, an adult probably could too if they were an acrobat.
I also thought of a creative way to scoop them out. Make a little hoop out of cardboard or use a toilet roll and attach a sock to the end, then use some ducktape to attach it to a pole securely. Home-made egg scooping device.
 
It’s been a few weeks.
It ended in a not so pleasant way.
Other than predator proofing at night o let the hen and nest be up until today.

Yesterday I noticed a partially hatched dead chick away from the nest. I thought she might have stepped on the baby though she started spending more time away from them.
Today there were more, one fully hatched but gone, and the hen was up wandering around. She joined with the rest of the flock so I can’t even tell which one she is anymore.
I grabbed an old Easter bucket, tied some string to it, and also grabbed a mop stick.
Using these I gently swept everything into the bucket and pulled everything out of the well. The eggs were chilled with no signs of life, but I found a partially hatched survivor.
I warmed her up with a hair dryer, though I think I may have accidentally burned her she’s doing alright. She hatched the rest of the way and is now under a brooder plate.
 

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