My broody hen is panicing!

[djohns0424]

I had to move my broody hen ASAP. The rooster was picking on her and disrupting her. We ended up moving her in daylight into her own run. We placed her eggs in the nest box and then her. She ran outside and is completely panicing. What can I do to help her and ensure she will go back to her eggs?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I had to move my broody hen ASAP. The rooster was picking on her and disrupting her. We ended up moving her in daylight into her own run. We placed her eggs in the nest box and then her. She ran outside and is completely panicing. What can I do to help her and ensure she will go back to her eggs?

Hens have nil ability to reason. You should only move the hen, her eggs AND her nest as a unit. That is the NEXT time that she goes broody because she may well abandon her nest entirely now because she doesn't recognize her new nursery.

My recommendation is never move her to a nest that is strange to her. Move the hen, nest, eggs and all. This is the reason I only try and hatch chicks if the hen starts sitting in a stand alone nest that can be closed off and moved in the dead of night to a small maternity pen. Then every 4th day when the hen comes off the nest to eat, drink, dust bathe, and empty her bowls she knows where her nest is and how to find it. Anything less is a sure recipe for failure.