Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bumpercarr]

Went out this morning and found my Wyandotte bantam sitting on eggs. She looks pretty committed, she kept finding more and moving them underneath of her. Tonight I'm going to move her and give her different eggs. I've never had a broody before. What's the best way to move one and give her new eggs? I know at night is best, but that's about all. I also have a roo in there with her who is not fond of me messing with his hens at all.

I had to move my broodies this time. They were in nest boxes right next to each other and were constantly fighting and swapping nests/eggs, so I separated them to eliminate the problems. I have 4 nesting boxes on each level of my coop. I waited until one was off of the nest for her daily constitutional and then moved the eggs to the nest box that I wanted her to use (as far away from the other broody as possible). She came back into the house, looked a little confused and after finding the eggs jumped up into the box. All of the eggs stealing and fighting has now stopped. I've never moved mine at night, I've only done it during the day when the hen is off of the nest.

 

[bumpercarr]

Went out this morning and found my Wyandotte bantam sitting on eggs. She looks pretty committed, she kept finding more and moving them underneath of her. Tonight I'm going to move her and give her different eggs. I've never had a broody before. What's the best way to move one and give her new eggs? I know at night is best, but that's about all. I also have a roo in there with her who is not fond of me messing with his hens at all.

I had to move my broodies this time. They were in nest boxes right next to each other and were constantly fighting and swapping nests/eggs, so I separated them to eliminate the problems. I have 4 nesting boxes on each level of my coop. I waited until one was off of the nest for her daily constitutional and then moved the eggs to the nest box that I wanted her to use (as far away from the other broody as possible). She came back into the house, looked a little confused and after finding the eggs jumped up into the box. All of the eggs stealing and fighting has now stopped. I've never moved mine at night, I've only done it during the day when the hen is off of the nest.

 

[pavemap]

this is the best advice I've found so far online - have a broody Plymouth Rock - on eggs day 17 now - tried to move her on day 3 and she wouldn't hear of it so I've put her back in with the rest of the flock - she has been steadfast and true till now but because she is atleast 3 ft. off the ground I need to move her - and soon- wondering if I should try it now or wait till babies have been hatching for 24 hrs. - obviously do it at night but do i put her in a box with them in the main coop at ground level with the others (mingling with the others or fenced off so she can see the others) or bring her to a separate coop alone with babies? hmm my first time with a broody hen so not sure - at this point i want to ensure the babies will hatch and be ok - any advise out there?

 

[pavemap]

this is the best advice I've found so far online - have a broody Plymouth Rock - on eggs day 17 now - tried to move her on day 3 and she wouldn't hear of it so I've put her back in with the rest of the flock - she has been steadfast and true - my problem? because she is atleast 3 ft. off the ground I need to move her - and soon- wondering if I should try it now or wait till babies have been hatching for 24 hrs. - obviously do it at night but do i put her in a box with them in the main coop at ground level with the others (mingling with the others or fenced off so she can see the others) or bring her to a separate coop alone with babies? hmm my first time with a broody hen so not sure - at this point i want to ensure the babies will hatch and be ok - what do you think?

 

[CGinJCMO]

this is the best advice I've found so far online - have a broody Plymouth Rock - on eggs day 17 now - tried to move her on day 3 and she wouldn't hear of it so I've put her back in with the rest of the flock - she has been steadfast and true till now but because she is atleast 3 ft. off the ground I need to move her - and soon- wondering if I should try it now or wait till babies have been hatching for 24 hrs. - obviously do it at night but do i put her in a box with them in the main coop at ground level with the others (mingling with the others or fenced off so she can see the others) or bring her to a separate coop alone with babies? hmm my first time with a broody hen so not sure - at this point i want to ensure the babies will hatch and be ok - any advise out there?

I put my first time broody on the floor of my main coop and fenced her off ( for her protection). She and the chicks have been with the flock since day one. If it didn't work out, I could have tried separating

CG

 

[bobbieschicks]

Has Smokey hatched out this year? Thought she was your best broody girl!

She hasn't hatched anything this year. She's getting old and had gone through a molt. But now she's trying to go broody again.

I've got Vanilla Ice, Shirley Jones, Smokey and Bunny, as my potential broodies.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I'd leave her alone and provide some sort of ramp or hopping down level for the chicks after they hatch.

 

[old for h lover]

Went out this morning and found my Wyandotte bantam sitting on eggs. She looks pretty committed, she kept finding more and moving them underneath of her. Tonight I'm going to move her and give her different eggs. I've never had a broody before. What's the best way to move one and give her new eggs? I know at night is best, but that's about all. I also have a roo in there with her who is not fond of me messing with his hens at all.

In the past I tried moving a broody hen and most of the time u move a bird they don't stay broody so I wouldn't mess with hens location and if u find that out and move her back she won't sit most of the time

 

[bobbieschicks]

In the past I tried moving a broody hen and most of the time u move a bird they don't stay broody so I wouldn't mess with hens location and if u find that out and move her back she won't sit most of the time

I've had success moving broodies at dusk with them having a towel over their head until in the new dark location. What I also do is set up the new nest with some of the bedding from the old nest and I put the eggs I want her to hatch there first. So if she's sitting on them already I swipe them out from under her, move the eggs, then move the girl. It's got to be mostly dark and I don't use a flashlight except at the end to verify I removed all eggs from the old nest. I've had marginal success moving them during daylight hours, most will simply return to the old location and only one girl allowed the change in the daytime. But all girls allowed the change at night with the towel trick and darkness thing.

Of course now I don't bother moving them since I'm not paying a bunch of money for hatching eggs anymore.

 

[Johnn]

Well thats one broodies egg most likely screwed up! Went up today and she was off the nest, I thought nothing of it but then I went to her nest and it was scratted up with the eggs buried under straw and it was cold. I decided to take the egg and give it to the other broody because it could still be hatchable because I didn't know how long she had been off. Anyways about 40 mins past and I decided to feed the other broody. She got off the eggs and then the one who i thought had give up went back in the shed and just stood and stared at the other broodies nest, she looked like she wanted to nick it. But then she just lied down right infront of the nest box and started screaming at me. So I got her egg back out of the other broodies nest and put it in front of her and she quickly tucked it under. I wonder if it still has a chance to hatch? I'm starting to wonder if the reason she wouldn't go back to the nest is because there was no water. The stupid sheep has come in and knocked it all over again so all the girls except the ones who where smart enough to go down the field to the stream where thirsty (the broody being one of them).