Moving broody hen?

[Old Ben]

One of my Wyandotte’s has gone broody! Which is great for me because I had just been talking about raising chicks. I’m going to buy fertilized eggs from online and let her sit on them. Only problem is she’s sitting in a normal built in (so I can’t move it.) nest box. I’m going to make a sort of “broody box” out of cardboard and do what I can so the other hens leave her alone. But how do I move her to that box? And should I leave her in the normal nesting box until the eggs get here?

 

[Gray Farms]

Leave her alone until you get the eggs you want her to set. Once you do get the eggs move her very CAREFULLY AND QUIETLY AT NIGHT to the box you want her to set in. Doesn't work 100% of the time but good chance it will.

 

[Naser]

Put her in a cardbox inside her nesting box, after a day or two move her inside the cardbox at night to the new place, keep some eggs or dummy eggs or even supermarket eggs under her, if she stays you can buy fertilized eggs, chances are fifty fifty she will stay.

 

[aart]

Broody signs:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, doesn't she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.


How I manage broody:
When I have a broody I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.

 

[Old Ben]

Why do you want to move her?
Are the other chickens showing any signs of bothering her?
Most of the hens here sit on their clutches of eggs in normal coops and can come and go as they please.

It’s the nest boxes. They’re built in from a commercially bought hen house. I’ve heard that makes it more difficult for them to hatch eggs in. Something about their legs not laying right when sitting.

 

[Old Ben]

Never heard of that.
Post some pics?

I’m probably just explaining what it looks like really terribly. Lol Here’s the only picture I have at the moment, I can get better pictures later if you’d like me to.

 

[aart]

This is what I use for a broody nest...14"W x 16"D x 16"T.
4'x6' section of coop wired off.

 

[Old Ben]

Next best job to proper earth.

This is what I use for a broody nest...14"W x 16"D x 16"T.
4'x6' section of coop wired off.

Thank you both for the information. I’m not completely certain if she will go broody, but I’m hoping on it. I don’t have the supplies to make a entire new nest box out of wood, nor do I have a space in the run I can actually wire off at the moment. But I will try and make something that can be used to the same effect of what you’ve mentioned to ensure the survival of chicks and comfort of the hen. Also, have either of you had experience in keeping silkies? I was thinking about getting them, because I think they look beautiful. But, I’ve heard they are hard to maintain because of all that fluff. Also, I’m not sure if they’d make it well, I live in an area that can have hot summers(100 degrees.) and can have cold winters. (-10 below.) not all that common. But it can happen.

 

[aart]

Next best job to proper earth.

Was middle of winter...'proper earth' was not even available under feet of snow.

 

[Old Ben]

Leave her alone until you get the eggs you want her to set. Once you do get the eggs move her very CAREFULLY AND QUIETLY AT NIGHT to the box you want her to set in. Doesn't work 100% of the time but good chance it will.

Okay, now I’m not sure what’s happening. She was sitting on eggs earlier, and made this “growling” sound when I got near her. She even took an egg I put in front of her and added it under her. But now she’s just out there with the rest of them. There were 3 eggs where she was sitting, did she decide not to hatch them on her own? Or is she building a clutch of eggs?