Moving a setting hen?

[penelopebianchi]

I had a Mille Fleur hen who laid her eggs outside of the coop and was sitting!! (we were collecting her eggs, not knowing she was "broody"!

We have bobcats, and every kind of predator. I tried moving her at night.....into the coop; and I even stayed with her for 4 hours; and she was flinging herself at the fence, leaving her eggs! I had no choice but to put them back. Every morning I woke up expecting to find mayhem.

She hatched them all (she was well camouflaged.....) and then took them back into the coop! WHEW!!!

Penelope

 

[RetiredRN]

x3 When I've tried this method, it seems to work the best for me/my flock. If the broody hen and her clutch haven't already been put in a pen on the coop floor (no wire on the bottom of the pen) to help keep her organized, then at about hatching time she goes into the pen and stays there until the chicks are mobile enough to hop up on a little platform for feed and water, then I take the cage away but leave the nest where it was on the floor. They will bed down in the nest on the floor for another week or two until the chicks are mobile enough to hop up into the nesting boxes at night.

I separated my broody hen and her eggs from the others. When the chicks were about 10 days old, I put the other 4 hens in a separate area and let the Mom and her chicks run around the bigger fenced in area. The Mama Hen and one of the other hens tried to fight through the chicken wire because the hen had come too close to the babies. After another week I let everyone run together in the same pen but there were still occasions when the Mama would chase the other hens away! My broody hen gets very hostile when sitting on her eggs so I really have to move her away from the others. I also had problems with the hens eating the starter feed so I kept the Mama and chicks separate at night from the other hens so that the chicks would have the opportunity to eat their own food.

 

[devabear]

Hello... I have not posted on here before but this thread has me intrigued! I have a Guinea hen who has had her eggs under a tree within some long leaved lilies. A lovely nest but it has rained so much here that I am worried about her caring for them. Does anyone have any thoughts as to how I should move them to a safer drier place or... IF that is even possible? Guineas can be so strange.... thanks for any comments or suggestions!

 

[AVintageLife]

Got home tonight and saw four little bantam chicks peeking out under my EE Zelda. Four more LF eggs to hatch. Will have to move her, probably tomorrow night and hoping all the eggs have hatched by then. Her nest is in a wine box and the sides are too high for her to lead the chicks out when she is ready to do so. I will wait til dark, cover the box with a towel and move her down to the new broody area.

 

[Brookliner]

If you have the space to do that, that's great. Many people don't have the space to totally separate their new chicks from the main flock, and it isn't really necessary to do so. If you can give the momma some private space with a upended laundry basket or other privacy shielding in the main flock's area, it does allow the chicks to gather their strength to run away from aggressive hens.

Personally, if I had the space I would remove the aggressive hens from the coop to alternative space and leave the momma and chicks with the main flock. I have yet to have another hen kill a chick....I once had a juvie rooster attack a chick, but it survived. (It was spring, so I locked the rooster out in the run when I wasn't home to supervise. He took the hint and left the chicks alone after about a week; two days of which it rained all day. LOL) Why would I move the aggressive hens instead of the chicks? Because it is easier to integrate full grown hens back into the flock than chicks. Not to mention some "time out" time for the hens tends to put them lower on the pecking order upon return so they lose some of their aggressive behavior.

I totally agree with removing the bad girls. I have had 2 hens fight over the chicks and the chicks were the losers...I separate them now.

 

[mcm]

I have a little English Bantam hen and a Buff both setting on eggs right now. I have a small movable hen house with pen that fits into the outside screened area. It is perfect to move setting hens into. I did this last year with no problems. I did nothing except make two new nests in the pen and then move my hen's eggs then them. Maybe I was just lucky, but they both just stayed where they were and kept setting. It is a nice set up for the mom and chicks to live in until the chicks are big enough to take care of themselves against the other hens and rooster in the coop.

 

[Jack Speese]

I agree you definitely want to move her. As suggested, nighttime works best and using dummy eggs is also a great idea until she gets settled. Sometimes they don't get settled and it doesn't work, but usually it does. The alternative (leaving her where she is), however, never works. Other hens will try to share the nest with her, resulting in the eggs being chilled and pushed around and broken. Plus I've found that even good brooders aren't too bright when it comes to getting back on the same eggs after she gets off to eat or get a drink, etc. She's just as likely to get on other eggs and let the original ones get cold. So it's best to have her by herself where there are no other nests to choose from! Don't have this problem with ducks and geese, just chickens. The only time it might work just to leave her where she is is if she goes off somewhere to hide her nest away from the rest of the flock (but then she may be at risk of predators).

 

[Iluvmallards]

Hello... I have not posted on here before but this thread has me intrigued! I have a Guinea hen who has had her eggs under a tree within some long leaved lilies. A lovely nest but it has rained so much here that I am worried about her caring for them. Does anyone have any thoughts as to how I should move them to a safer drier place or... IF that is even possible? Guineas can be so strange.... thanks for any comments or suggestions!

Every time I found where my guinea hens were laying, If they saw me near their nest or if I moved their eggs they would never return to that spot and I would have to hunt for their new nest, I just started gathered their eggs and putting them in my incubator when I found their nests

 

 

[azahn]

2 weeks ago I had to move a broody hen who was on eggs inside the coop. We made a brood box using a pallett with a board on the bottom, and put a solid wall (L) shaped on two sides as a wind break, and hardware cloth on the other two sides. The sides are about 18" high. Kept the top open. First I moved her nest into the box, then moved the hen. No luck. She jumped right out. Went back to the coop looking for her eggs. Did this a couple of times with same response. Finally took 2 eggs back to the original nest, let her get back on them, then reached under her, and carried her back to the box with the two eggs underneath her all the way. Then gently set her down on the remaining eggs in the box. This seemed to delay her wanting to leave. After about 3 attempts, she stayed! My broody box is inside an enclosed run, so she still has access to food, water, etc, but the babies will be safe in there for the first week or so. Good luck!

 

[RetiredRN]

I agree you definitely want to move her. As suggested, nighttime works best and using dummy eggs is also a great idea until she gets settled. Sometimes they don't get settled and it doesn't work, but usually it does. The alternative (leaving her where she is), however, never works. Other hens will try to share the nest with her, resulting in the eggs being chilled and pushed around and broken. Plus I've found that even good brooders aren't too bright when it comes to getting back on the same eggs after she gets off to eat or get a drink, etc. She's just as likely to get on other eggs and let the original ones get cold. So it's best to have her by herself where there are no other nests to choose from! Don't have this problem with ducks and geese, just chickens. The only time it might work just to leave her where she is is if she goes off somewhere to hide her nest away from the rest of the flock (but then she may be at risk of predators).

It did take me several attempts over several days to move her to where I wanted her. Since she was sitting on unfertilized eggs, it didn't matter it they got cold. (I provided her with already hatched pullets on day 20!) She sat on the eggs under a cardboard box in a separate area of the coop but when she had little chicks, she moved out of the box so she could keep tabs on everyone. At that point, I put a little bench over her nest just to give her the feeling that she was under something and she was quite happy there.
She's normally quite happy with the other hens but she is fierce when she has little chicks. Once the chicks got a little bigger, they were all fine together.