My first semi broody hen- WWYD?

[Monkeybean415]

I have my first hen starting to act broody. She's almost a year old buff orpington and I've found her sitting on eggs a lot the past few days. The other night she was on them all night. She rouses pretty easily if I open the nest and take her out but today she went back. We don't have a rooster so none of our eggs are fertile. I replaced the eggs with some wooden eggs and balls and she's not back in there and has moved three of them under her. How long should I give her before trusting she's serious and getting her fertile eggs?

I read that I should maybe move her to another area away from where the other hens are laying? Where exactly would that be? Inside in a crate? But then she wouldn't really have access to outside unless we put her there or we have a large dog igloo we could add to the run but I dont know if the other hens would still bother her. At least she wouldnt be in where they're usually laying eggs.

I prefer the idea of giving her eggs to hatch than putting her in a cage to break her but I'm also fine with trying to gently persuade her to stop.

Also- is it good to have an incubator just in case she quits?

 

[lazy gardener]

I would give her a crate, preferably big enough that you could mount feed and water on the side. She won't want to be off the eggs for very long at a time anyways. If you're not working a lot of hours, you could be around to give her some dust bath time, or some out of coop time for 10 minutes or so every day, if she wants it. You should either go all out to break her, or give her eggs to hatch after she's been dedicated to sitting both day and night for a few days. I'd feel better about having an incubator handy, if I were working with a broody. In fact, I'd give her a modest clutch to set, while at the same time doing a modest set of eggs in the incubator. That way, you won't have all of your eggs in one basket (pun intended). If she fails, her eggs can go in the bator, and if you both succeed, you can foster your bator chicks under her.

 

[Pyxis]

Congrats on the broody! Since this is your first one, you might want to check out this article. It gives a good outline of the basic brooding process:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/guide-to-letting-broody-hens-hatch-and-raise-chicks

As for whether or not you want to move her, that would be up to you and your situation. There are pros and cons to each, the biggest con being that moving her might break her entirely from being broody. If you decide to give her eggs and want to leave her where she is, mark her eggs with a sharpie, and that way you will be able to tell those from the eggs your hens are laying and you can collect their eggs and leave hers with her.

 

[Monkeybean415]

Thank you for your quick replies. I'll check out that article. I've read a couple but was wondering about our specific set up. Should I keep the crate inside or outside? Keep it closed off and then let her our for a little bit each day. I've moved her a couple times already and she keeps going back. I definitely don't want her to stay in the nesting box. It's a long trip out to the food/water from there so unsure how likely she'd be to go that far and she's obviously been hoarding/stealing eggs to sit on because all the other nests are empty. Plus one of the other hens was making a big loud protest about it I think lol.

I don't have the best options for fertile eggs here unfortunately. Most of the area is not allowed to have roosters so very few have them. The feed store sells eggs and they have roosters so I could buy a dozen from them with good luck of at least some of them being fertile. Or I could buy some from a farm not too far away to ship over (those would be more expensive though)

 

[Pyxis]

Thank you for your quick replies. I'll check out that article. I've read a couple but was wondering about our specific set up. Should I keep the crate inside or outside? Keep it closed off and then let her our for a little bit each day. I've moved her a couple times already and she keeps going back. I definitely don't want her to stay in the nesting box. It's a long trip out to the food/water from there so unsure how likely she'd be to go that far and she's obviously been hoarding/stealing eggs to sit on because all the other nests are empty. Plus one of the other hens was making a big loud protest about it I think lol.

I don't have the best options for fertile eggs here unfortunately. Most of the area is not allowed to have roosters so very few have them. The feed store sells eggs and they have roosters so I could buy a dozen from them with good luck of at least some of them being fertile. Or I could buy some from a farm not too far away to ship over (those would be more expensive though)

I'd keep the crate in the coop if you have the room for it, to keep her more out of the weather and for better predator protection. If you do move her, try it at night, they are usually more easily moved at that time. Can you fit a five gallon bucket in the nest she's in currently? It sounds odd but my nest boxes are five gallon buckets for exactly this reason - when a hen goes broody I just pick the entire bucket with her in it up at night and move it into the dog crate I keep in the coop for this purpose. I've never had a broody break when doing it this way. After a few days I just take the bucket out when the broody is up for the day and put her eggs in the crate where the bucket was and there's no more need for a bucket. So if she's really resistant to moving you might try putting a bucket with her eggs in it in your nesting box and moving her that way.

 

[Monkeybean415]

I could try the bucket idea. And I think I could fit one of our crates somewhere in the coop. Should I keep it closed except for a brief period of time? I might even be able to just block off the nesting box she's in somehow and then just open it once a day for her. I'll be keeping an eye on her the next couple days but she did spend one full evening and night on eggs already. She got up this morning to eat but must of gone back in not long after. She probably spent less than an hour out in the yard earlier today and only because I pick her up and put her out and switched out the eggs.

Our coop is up off the ground I think I read something about having to move them close to hatching so the babies don't fall?

 

[Pyxis]

I could try the bucket idea. And I think I could fit one of our crates somewhere in the coop. Should I keep it closed except for a brief period of time? I might even be able to just block off the nesting box she's in somehow and then just open it once a day for her. I'll be keeping an eye on her the next couple days but she did spend one full evening and night on eggs already. She got up this morning to eat but must of gone back in not long after. She probably spent less than an hour out in the yard earlier today and only because I pick her up and put her out and switched out the eggs.

Our coop is up off the ground I think I read something about having to move them close to hatching so the babies don't fall? 

If you could block off the nesting box that would be the option that would least disturb her. Chicks can make it down ramps okay, the problem is they are not so good about coming back up them. You might have to move the broody and her chicks after they hatch to a more chick-friendly area if you have a big ramp.

 

[Monkeybean415]

If you could block off the nesting box that would be the option that would least disturb her. Chicks can make it down ramps okay, the problem is they are not so good about coming back up them. You might have to move the broody and her chicks after they hatch to a more chick-friendly area if you have a big ramp.

Thank you SO much for all your advice! I'm excited to try and hatch some eggs. I'll make sure to post with any updates