Moved hen and her eggs and now she won't go back on her eggs

[coolchick17]

Can anyone give me some advise?
Today i Moved my broody hen and her eggs which she has been sitting on for a while now and she won't go back on her eggs.
I should probably tell you that the reason I moved her was 1) I thought that's what you are supposed to do so the other hens don't harm the chicks and 2) another hen was laying a new egg in her nest every day and I couldn't keep track anymore of whats what.
I moved her during the day that way I could keep the other hens and rooster out while I moved her. She was pretty upset.
Any advise on what I shoud do now?

 

[HEChicken]

Can anyone give me some advise?
Today i Moved my broody hen and her eggs which she has been sitting on for a while now and she won't go back on her eggs.
I should probably tell you that the reason I moved her was 1) I thought that's what you are supposed to do so the other hens don't harm the chicks and 2) another hen was laying a new egg in her nest every day and I couldn't keep track anymore of whats what.
I moved her during the day that way I could keep the other hens and rooster out while I moved her. She was pretty upset.
Any advise on what I shoud do now?

Moving broodies is tricky. I've had some that didn't care where I put them, and others that have a specific spot in mind and don't want to brood anywhere else. The best time to move them is in the middle of the night when they are sleepy and don't really know what's going on. That said, I've moved some at night that when they woke up next morning and realized they'd been moved, were not happy with the new set up and abandoned the nest.

When I have a hen go broody, I don't allow her to sit on eggs in the nest box. I.e., I collect all the eggs at the end of each day. However I let her sit for 2-3 days to see if she is serious about it and if she is, I set up a broody area, where I will be able to provide her with privacy, security, food and water, and put a couple of "dud" eggs in there. By duds, they can be infertile, or hard-boiled eggs. Their only purpose is to verify that she will accept the move. Then I move her - at night - and block her into the new area so she can't leave. In the morning she may not sit on the nest but as long as she has everything she needs, I leave her for a day or two to see if she'll settle down on the new nest. Once she does, I take the eggs I want her to hatch, and switch out the duds for the good eggs - again at night - and from that point on, she is sitting on the good eggs.

In the event you have a hen who is brooding where other hens can lay in the nest, you can mark the eggs that she is supposed to be sitting on, and each evening, lift her off and remove any eggs that aren't marked. I personally don't favor this method because it is stressful to her to be lifted off the eggs daily, but I've had to do it this way a time or two when circumstances did not allow a move.

As for what you can do now....depending on your climate and how long she has been off them, it may be too late for them. If you have an incubator, you can fire it up and put them in there to stay warm and give you a little breathing room. If the eggs are in an incubator, you will have time to get her acclimated to the new nest with dud eggs, and then give her back the half-cooked ones, once she is sitting where you want her nicely again.