Moving Broody Hens

[eulogos]

I do not have very good success moving broody hens to a better place. I do it at night. Is there a time frame in turns of number of days of sitting in which they will accept being moved?

 

[centrarchid]

I like to delay moves until day 18 or 19 at least. Prior to that hens bond is with nest site more than just the nest or developing brood. Once she starts talking to unhatched chicks she will bond with chicks that usually overrides a move of nest to a new location. By piping time I can move the hen and eggs only and they will stay together.


If you can make so hen cannot tell she has been moved to another location by having new location look just like old, then you might be able to more reliably move hen and clutch to a new location.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't think they ever want to be moved. They have chosen that nest so that is where they want to be.

 

[eulogos]

The problem is that they have to get off briefly once a day or so, and in the coop other hens get in, prevent the broody from returning, so she then settles down next door. They lay eggs that have to be removed each day. Worse, I have a couple of egg eaters, and just one, one time, can destroy a clutch, spreading egg over the eggs they don’t peck. I have built doors to shut broodies in, letting them out once a day and waiting in the coop until they are back. But that has me in the coop for at least half an hour- if the broody gets off right away when let out. I once had 12 broodies at once and was spending 3 hours a day in the coop! Most of my flock is the result of that year, but it resulted in the neglect of my garden, not to mention missing grandchildren birthday parties... Once you get mama in her own separate little coop, no more problems and great hatch rate of better looking chicks than the once I hatch in the incubator.

 

[NatJ]

Have you tried moving the broody to the new coop, giving her a clutch of fake eggs, and keeping her shut in there for a few days?

If you know that certain hens are likely to go broody, can you move them to the broody coop in advance, so when they go broody they're already in the right place?

 

[eulogos]

I have not tried that. I don’t know a way of predicting broodiness. I actually had one hen start sitting on Jan1 this year. She accepted being moved. I provided a warming pad under the nest and a heat lamp in the run area, and covered the whole thing with a tarp. One the 22nd 23rd she hatched 9 chicks from 11 eggs. (Both or those were fully developed, one hatched and died, the other died in shell fully formed.). Looks now like 5 pullets, four cockerels. But who could have predicted that? I think that is the same hen who is again brooding in there. ( I have about 60 hens, 15 roosters. Several hens are white with black spots like this one so I am not sure but I think so.
i have another sitting on eggs in the coop, black with some gold on her neck. I think she is one I tried to move before and she quit. I am already tired of going out there and hanging around the coop waiting to see if she will get off and then protecting her eggs while she does. But I don’t want her to quit either...

 

[centrarchid]

The problem is that they have to get off briefly once a day or so, and in the coop other hens get in, prevent the broody from returning, so she then settles down next door. They lay eggs that have to be removed each day. Worse, I have a couple of egg eaters, and just one, one time, can destroy a clutch, spreading egg over the eggs they don’t peck. I have built doors to shut broodies in, letting them out once a day and waiting in the coop until they are back. But that has me in the coop for at least half an hour- if the broody gets off right away when let out. I once had 12 broodies at once and was spending 3 hours a day in the coop! Most of my flock is the result of that year, but it resulted in the neglect of my garden, not to mention missing grandchildren birthday parties... Once you get mama in her own separate little coop, no more problems and great hatch rate of better looking chicks than the once I hatch in the incubator.

Can you make so she can get just a couple feet away from nest to deficate while excluding others. I have placed a 2 x 4 welded wire fencing piece to form the barrier needed.

 

[NatJ]

I have built doors to shut broodies in, letting them out once a day and waiting in the coop until they are back.

Can you add doors to the back of the nestboxes, too? Then anytime a hen goes broody, you could attach a small coop to the back of her nestbox, and block the side of the nestbox that accesses the main coop. That would give her a private coop, but the same nestbox, and no actual moving of the hen. (Whether that's possible has a lot to do with how your coop/nestboxes are set up, of course.)

 

[NatJ]

Or maybe mark the hens that go broody and DO tolerate being moved, so you can keep them, and cull the ones that do NOT tolerate moving?

 

[eulogos]

The back of the nest box thing is a great idea and I think it is possible, but I don’t have the building skills and my husband’s are only a little better. His reaction would be,”I need to do this so you can have *more* chickens????” You have got me excited to go out and look and see if it can be done.