Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

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bobbieschicks said:
I noticed with both Smokey and Topsy that they moved away from the eggs that were not going to hatch when they had their new chicks. Pretty much by Day 25 they were done and would take the new chicks away from the old nest and start a new nest somewhere on the floor of the coop. It's so cute to watch how they show the the food and scold them for not listening.
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Oh no, not a new nest?!
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This really is a perfect spot for them, tucked in a corner, out of the breeze coming through the pop door. I wish I could convince her to move into one of the 6...never been used by my chickens....6....perfectly good nesting boxes with a brand new ramp DH built for me/them!!
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Debs55 said:
Hey yall! I just put 4 barred rock eggs under my broody silkie hen Mel. I've had chickens and chicks for a year but this is the first time I've hatched anything so I'm super excited!
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We're all excited for you too, Debs55! Good luck and have fun! My Sizzle, Janice, just hatched 4 mixed eggs this past weekend. I think we have 3 barred rocks & 1 EE. Time will tell.
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CoopChick719 said:
Oh no, not a new nest?!
th.gif
This really is a perfect spot for them, tucked in a corner, out of the breeze coming through the pop door. I wish I could convince her to move into one of the 6...never been used by my chickens....6....perfectly good nesting boxes with a brand new ramp DH built for me/them!!
he.gif
Click to expand...


Usually the new nests would be in the back corners of the coop so that they were more protected. One time Smokey took them under the ladder that goes to the roost - but I guess she didn't like that location because she quickly moved them again the next night to the back of the coop in the corner. If you keep them in a crate or wired area - the new nest may consist of just moving over a bit from the old nest. But I've not seen them stay in their original nests after the chicks hatched. Maybe my girls are just weird - hope yours stays put in her nice area.

At the start of last year pretty much everyone laid their eggs in the nest boxes - then when Topsy took one over for hatching her chicks - pretty much everyone started laying on the floor of the coop. It was like an Easter egg hunt in there. I'd find them behind the step stool and in the back corners of the coop. They are still laying on the floor on occassion, but most have returned to laying in the nest boxes now that Topsy is out of them.
 
bobbieschicks said:
Quote: Mine moved out of the box too. I've only done this 1 time so...no expert here! But....

At one point she had moved them in a corner right between 2 doors where I had to walk to get through. I lived w/that for awhile but when I realized she wasn't going to move, one day when she was up w/the kids I put a couple of split logs in that corner and kind-of herded her back into a corner that made more sense. Took a couple of times, but she finally settled there and has stayed there ever since.

The first part of the story, though..... The corner I herded her into was the one she originally chose the first time she came out of the nest w/ baby. That night I moved her back to the next box after dark because I was going to add chicks under her - which I did. That next day when she came out, she went to the "stupid corner" (as I call it...the one by the doors) mainly, I think, because it was in the upper teens in temperature and she just stopped and dropped close to where they were as soon as they got cold. It was right by the "stupid corner" and she just stuck there.

So...really...I just made her move back to the place she originally chose.
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