Moving a hatching broody

[skiffgirl]

I'm in Alaska and have a broody hen sitting on eggs. I hear peeping coming from the nest and am super worried that it will be warm enough. It's 24 degrees. They are using a cat kennel as a nest box and I could move it but I don't want to upset momma or hurt any babies. I can't actually see anything yet to know if there are babies hatched out. What should I do?

 

[skiffgirl]

I have the option to move them into our mud room for a little while if that would be better. If you think I should move them how would you go about it without hurting the chicks.

 

[Bunnylady]

Tough call. A lot of hens are really good at taking care of their chicks, and will sit down and cuddle with them often enough to keep them warm, even in such cold conditions. Others may get off to a rocky start.

(I had a Serama hen that hatched a clutch in January a couple of years ago. When I checked on them one evening, one chick had hatched. The next morning when I checked again, the hen was off the nest and apparently had been for some time. The chick from the night before was dying, and two others that had hatched during the night were very weak and barely moving. The remaining two eggs had pipped, but were cold and silent. I grabbed all of the eggs and chicks and put them in the incubator. The first chick died, but the other two recovered. The last two eggs finished hatching later that day. I moved the hen into a large tote that I had previously used as a brooder, and later reintroduced the hen to her family. I was lucky - the hen took the chicks back, and I wound up with a chicken family as house guests for a few weeks)

Sometimes, a hen will tolerate a lot of disturbance, and continue to look after her family. Other times, she won't accept any interference at all. I guess it depends on how much you want her to raise those chicks, and whether you have the means to raise them yourself should she fail to do so.

Good luck!

 

[skiffgirl]

Well, we went ahead and moved her in her cat kennel yesterday. So far we have 2 chicks that hatched yesterday and 3 maybe 4 eggs that have pipped since last night. She seems to have done ok being moved and is alright with me feeding her and checking on the chicks. So far so good.