well, finally i got my first broody!!! but, why oh why did she have to go in my dogs house!!! Can i move her, and still keep her broody?? i have a raised isolation pen that's 5x3x3 ....thats not that far from her original broody spot, i have a pet carrier that she they go in, i can but that in the pen and would she continue being broody in there?? this is her first time being broody and shes been broody for 3 days sitting on a infertile egg first (but my dog took it out because it was HER house, she didn't eat it, she just moved it...and then a hawk ate it...) so luckily my dog took the egg out when my hen was out getting food so i quickly replaced it with a golf ball and I don't think she noticed. so my question again... if i move her will she continue to be broody?? if she does, i want to test some trader joes fertile eggs on her.
i'd move her and keep the golf ball under her for a day, if she stays on then put some eggs under her.
My girl just went broody 3 days ago... and even when I removed her nest box she just picked the next nest-like spot to sit and defend. (and when I locked her out of the coop completely she just walked around all puffed up and annoyed until I let her back in again-- where she promptly returned to nesting) I wish I could just move her to break her broodiness-- but that definitely didn't work, so I'm guessing you can move your girl too. Are Trader Joe's fertile eggs hatchable? I've heard about them but assumed they were refrigerated.
That's one reason I really like to use a plastic lidded storage bin as a nestbox. It makes moving the broody hen and her eggs so easy...you just move the bin with the hen and her eggs right in it, to where you want it. Works like a charm. When my three hens were broody recently, I even moved them all inside the coop every night because it's more secure, then out into a shaded spot in the run during the day because it was cooler and more comfortable for them there. They shrieked at me a little at first, but quickly got used to their daily "commute." Plus, plastic bins are easy to keep clean and have no crevices for mites to hide in. I change out bedding frequently because I'm paranoid about mites, and these bins make it easy to dump out the bedding in my composter.
How about you get another dog house, and leave that broody girl set right there, where she feels safe?
This was my broody-moving experience: Hen was broody for over a week, so I collected eggs, put them where I wanted her to set, and moved her there during the day. She immediately flew off the nest, around the inside of the building and finally landed where I could catch her. So, I put her back in the coop, she went right back to "her" nestbox and settled down (no eggs in there at the time). So I came on BYC, and asked advice. I was advised to let her set there for a day or so on a few eggs, then move her and the eggs AT NIGHT to their new location, let her keep them for another day or so, the place the fertile eggs under her. It worked like a charm. She sat faithfully on that nest for 25 days. Unfortunately, none of the eggs hatched, but I did buy her some babies from the local feed store to raise. Put them under her at night, and they're getting along just fine. Good luck!
