Is it to late to move my broody chicken? What do I do?

[Xistina]

I was given six fertilized eggs that I put under a Broody chicken. She's been very good about sitting on them and keeping them warm
It's day 15 and I really not sure what's the best direction to go right now. I read that moving her and the eggs is not a great idea since she graifs to the nest not the eggs. I have a side coop ready to move the chicks too once they're hatched and the chicken. But obviously not all eggs happen and hatch at once. I could temporarily enclosed the structure where she nest and put some food and water. My concern is I have a number of other chickens and the nest sit about 4 ft off the ground. If the chicks are born they can fall If they're eager to run around. I could build a higher lip on the ledge so they can't get out. But what about the other chickens will they hurt them in case I'm not there. I'm just not really sure what to do at this point. Anyone have any suggestions would be appreciated. I thought I would be able to move her in the eggs until I read that's not going to work out and she would just probably abandon those eggs. So I feel I need to keep her where she's at until the chicks are born and then move them to the other coop where it'll be toasty warm. With or without broody mom. What have you all done in the past. Considering the situation I'm in now. What would you do?

 

[GodLovesU]

I would try to enclose her and the chicks in the nest as best as possible. After the eggs have hatched you could move mom and the babies into the side coop.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's day 15 and I really not sure what's the best direction to go right now. I read that moving her and the eggs is not a great idea since she graifs to the nest not the eggs.

People move broody hens all the time. There are techniques to improve your odds tremendously but you don't get guarantees. Even if you do things perfectly she could still not accept the move. That's why it is best to move them before you start the eggs. But that's not your situation.

If I were moving a broody I'd create a space where she cannot get out and no other chicken can get in. Chicks can get through some pretty small wire mesh so use small opening mesh. Make the space big enough for a nest, food, and water. A little extra space is OK but keep it small. Her instincts should tell her to not poop in her nest but you may be cleaning poop out of food or water regularly.

I'd make the nest itself as dark as you reasonably can. Dark seems to calm them. I'd move her and the eggs at night after it is dark using as little light and commotion as I reasonably could. She should stay on the nest all night. See what she does in the morning. If she stays off of the new nest longer than an hour I'd move the eggs back to her old nest and let her go on them.

I don't do that. I let my hens hatch with the flock. Some of my nests are 4 feet high. How big are your nests? I only had an issue one time. I let a hen hatch in a cat litter bucket with the top 7-1/2" x 11-1/2". That one was 4 feet above the coop floor. The nest was too small. A chick that hatched earlier than some others climbed on top of Mom. When that chick fell off that hen was so close to the side that it missed the nest and fell to the coop floor. Four different times I picked a chick up and put it back in the nest, probably the same chick most of those times. It fell 4 feet and was not hurt. Other hens came into the coop to lay eggs and left the chick alone. Some hens can be sadistic brutes and will kill a lone unprotected chick but I find most are not. I retired that nest right after that hatch. My other nests are big enough that the hen is not sitting right next to the edge. That's the only time I've had a chick fall out.
What does your coop look like? How big in feet or meters is it? Is it elevated with a ramp or at ground level. If it is a small elevated coop I'd have concerns about the chicks leaving the coop for the day with Mom and not being able to navigate back up the ramp. People manage this all of the time, usually very successfully. But it can take some extra work to make sure they all get back inside at night. This may be more of a reason to move them either before or after hatch than worries about them falling out of a nest.

There are risks no matter what you do. I'm not going to find fault with any decision you make. Differences in our facilities may push a decision one way or the other but your specific concerns and worries are important too.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Ridgerunner is the voice of calm and reason. I wish I had had access to his wisdom before I had broodies! We had eight BO hens and 4 of them went broody at once. Our nests are about 3.5 feet up and we planned to move them before the eggs hatched. Soon. In a few days. And then ... we heard cheeping. My adrenalin went off the charts, my blood turned to ice, my heart started to race, and calm and reason went to some other planet. I started screaming for my DH and kids to come help. All I could think was of chicks falling out of the nests, other hens attacking them, death, carnage and disaster rampant. As I ran around clucking and squawking like a headless chicken, my DH decided we needed to move hens and nests to the well house, a solid cinderblock structure of safety. One of us picked up the surprised hen (I think it was him), the other scooped nest, eggs and new-hatched chick onto (don't laugh!) an inverted trash-can lid, the kids opened and closed gates and doors, and a high-speed parade ensued to the well house. Before the hen could catch her breath we had deposited the nest with its occupants on the well-house floor and plopped Mama Hen on top of it. We repeated the process three more times, to get all the broodies and their soon-to-be offspring to safety. This was done at great haste because we'd been on our way out the door to be somewhere though the destination now escapes me. And you know what? All was well. One grumpy broody had to be visually blocked off from the others with a sturdy cardboard wall, while two others decided to co-parent their broods, and the fourth just sat patiently on her eggs and chicks like a textbook parent. Eight eggs hatched and my lost mind returned to me.

 

[Xistina]

@Ridgerunner is the voice of calm and reason. I wish I had had access to his wisdom before I had broodies! We had eight BO hens and 4 of them went broody at once. Our nests are about 3.5 feet up and we planned to move them before the eggs hatched. Soon. In a few days. And then ... we heard cheeping. My adrenalin went off the charts, my blood turned to ice, my heart started to race, and calm and reason went to some other planet. I started screaming for my DH and kids to come help. All I could think was of chicks falling out of the nests, other hens attacking them, death, carnage and disaster rampant. As I ran around clucking and squawking like a headless chicken, my DH decided we needed to move hens and nests to the well house, a solid cinderblock structure of safety. One of us picked up the surprised hen (I think it was him), the other scooped nest, eggs and new-hatched chick onto (don't laugh!) an inverted trash-can lid, the kids opened and closed gates and doors, and a high-speed parade ensued to the well house. Before the hen could catch her breath we had deposited the nest with its occupants on the well-house floor and plopped Mama Hen on top of it. We repeated the process three more times, to get all the broodies and their soon-to-be offspring to safety. This was done at great haste because we'd been on our way out the door to be somewhere though the destination now escapes me. And you know what? All was well. One grumpy broody had to be visually blocked off from the others with a sturdy cardboard wall, while two others decided to co-parent their broods, and the fourth just sat patiently on her eggs and chicks like a textbook parent. Eight eggs hatched and my lost mind returned to me.

Love your story. So it sounds like I may be stressing for nothing. Fingers crossed

 

[Perris]

So I feel I need to keep her where she's at until the chicks are born and then move them to the other coop where it'll be toasty warm.

I would do that.

You may have a staggered hatch - it's not clear from your description of the situation - and if so, the time to move them is when the broody brings the hatched chicks off the nest and abandons any eggs that are left. At that time she will be looking for food and water for her chicks and for herself - she will probably not have eaten for a few days while the hatch was ongoing under her, and she will appreciate a dustbath as well as food and water at that time too.

 

[Yardmom]

Were the eggs all started at the same time? If so chicks will likely hatch on the same day. The chicks will most likely stay under Mom that first day.
How large is the nest?

I would not risk a move at this stage.