Moving broody hen to separate coop

[Chickiechickieboomboom]

I have a broody hen (8 months old) who has been sitting on her nest for 3 days and 3 nights. The eggs are not fertilized, but I have three day-old chicks arriving in 11 days. I would love to see her raise them herself!

She is currently in the big coop with the rest of the flock.

What I want to do is pick up her nest box tonight while she is sleeping, and put it in my smaller coop (which I've planned on using as a brooder/isolation/grow out coop as needed). This smaller coop is cleaned out with fresh shavings, and I put a waterer and feeder in there for her. It is just a few feet away from the big coop. They all free range.

Can I move the nest box, with my hen and her eggs in it, all at once? Should I take out the eggs first? Does she need to be totally asleep? I don't want to do anything to upset her.

thanks for any and all advice!

 

[sourland]

I would move everything intact, and then close up the smaller coop so that she does not try to go back to her original coop.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would leave her RIGHT WHERE SHE IS. The reason you separate a broody hen, if you do, is so the other hens won't try and lay in her nest, and you get too many eggs for a good hatch. You are not trying to do that. As long as she is with the flock, the flock accepts her and respects her, that is what you want.

Just leave her where she is, she likes that nest, if you move her, sometimes that will break them, and then where will you be?

When you get the new chicks, make sure they all have a drink of water. Dip their beaks, then in the early evening, set them out a bit, you want them to get a little chilled. They should be peeping pretty madly. 10 minutes is enough, but if they are cold, they will seek a warm spot and burrow in like ticks, and it is that movement underneath her that flips the hormone from, broody to near comatose, to actively monitoring, feeding and defending her chicks.

Go down in the dark, using minimum light, start sticking the chicks under her, and then do the hard part, leave her alone and go up to the house until morning. If you are worried about chicks falling out of the nest, section it off. But just for that night.

Clean out the floor of your coop, and put down fresh bedding, I do it the day before I get chicks. The broody hen will get them down from the nest, and she will create a new place for them on the floor. She will introduce them to others and they won't make the mistake of bothering them.

It is really best to let her do it her way. A lot of wrecks are caused by people with good intentions.

Mrs K