moving a broody hen question?????

[chickenobsessed]

so i have a hen that is broody and wanted to know if i should move her to another nesting box because she is in just a box with no top or nothing and if i move her she will have a top and everything. also all the hens lay in the same box so i won't be able to tell which ones are fresh or which one she is sitting on. and when the chicks hatch they cant get out of the box but if i move her when they hatch they can walk in the coop. i read somewhere that you should move them because when the other hens get in the box they would break the eggs and make a mess??????




also one other question, will the eggs hatch all at once or no because i a am getting about 3-4 eggs a day so i wanted to put about 12-15 eggs in with my broody hen so i didnt know if she would wait until all of them to hatch or i think i read somewhere online that the won't start to produce until the hen has sat on the full clutch. and also will she sit on all of them until they hatch or once some of them hatch she will get off the clutch??? if so i will put them in an incubator!!!

 

[nurse_turtle]

Check your other post... I already responded there before I saw you had moved the post.

 

[Judy]

You might want to save the eggs for hatching, and put them under her all at once. I have just put them in a bowl on the kitchen counter -- til they're a week old or you have enough. Some will hatch if you hold them longer than a week, maybe even all of them, but that's the safest length of time, as I understand it. Then mark them with a Sharpie so you know which are for hatching. You can leave her where she is or move her. Yes, it's safer to move her, less likely to have breakage. I've done it both ways. Hens will steal other eggs and will lay in the hatching nest, on top of the broody if needed. The chicks can get out of a nest that's 2' or 3' off the ground just fine -- many a hen has hatched her chicks in a hayloft. They won't be able to get back up right away, but at that point they just need some hay or other bedding to snuggle into, and the mama will cover them wherever they gather.

When the chicks start hatching, the mama will usually keep them under her and continue to hatch chicks for about 24 hours. Then she will abandon any eggs that have not hatched and take her chicks to eat and drink.

She will get off the nest once a day to eat, poop, etc., and she needs a little space to get a little exercise. I have a 5' X 6' or so pen inside my coop sectioned off with chicken wire which works great for this. Lots of people give them less space to move around in, but they do need more than a nest, if only a couple of square feet.

 

[chickenobsessed]

ok thanks i already have the eggs in there so i dont want to take them out they have been in there for a few days. after 24 hour or so i will put them in the incubator so more can hatch because I am getting about 3-4 eggs a day so once they hatch more will hatch each day and thanks for the information

 

[redhen689]

If you leave her where she is, you should mark all of the eggs under her, so you know which eggs have been there from the start, and which were laid later. Then you know which eggs she has been incubating and which ones may have been laid freshly, and you can remove any new eggs on a daily basis.
I never had any problems with hens breaking eggs, but sometimes there is some squabbeling over the nest box, so it could happen.

 

[chickenobsessed]

ok i will mark them with a sharpie marker and get the fresh ones out each day

 

[suebee]

I draw a big X on the eggs with a pencil.

 

[chickenobsessed]

i put on F (for fertile) on them today with a green sharpie