I know this posting is old but I need help! One of my hens is brooding and has been in this brooding for a week. One Lady at my church told me to leave the eggs under her and she would hatch them. Problem! It is winter here. Next week is suppose to be lows in the 20's. I have two Roos so all my eggs are fertile. 2nd problem she is in the community nest. I have 14 hens due to an attack of Owls and people stealing. They got smart and now go in one of the two hen houses and I close the run so nothing can get them. They have started laying in the other hen house which can't be closed. My brooding hen is wanting to stay in the nest in the unsecured house! Help!
How do I keep her warm and safe? Do I move her? My friend said she would only brood for 30 days. Have I waited too long to leave the eggs? I would like to increase my flock the natural way. Didn't expect it to happen in the winter!
I had a broodie hatch chicks in the dead of winter and it was also in the 20's. I left her (she was under some old motorcycles covered in plastic but not a safe place) there until the chicks hatched. I picked her up and the chicks just dropped out from under her!
There were 5 and I had been out of town so wasn't sure exactly how old they were but I moved them and mom and the remaining eggs into our barn in a 100 gallon horse trough with a light, shavings and a wire top. Unfortunately, I don't think I got enough shaving under the eggs because every morning I would find a perfectly fine, wet, dead chick. It looked like Mom had pecked them open. I think I lost 7 by not making sure they were as warm underneath like their mom had them.
I've also had several hens set in the favorite laying boxes and these boxes are up about 2 1/2 feet. The first two broodies, I secured the space with wire with just enough space for the hens to get out and due their business but it was small enough to deter the other hens from trying to get in and lay their eggs in the nest. That and the natural broodie attitude!
All my broodies who nested in the laying boxes have made it clear to everyone that the chicks were off limits and it's worked. Of course I had to search everywhere to find the eggs during that time. Every time I moved mom, chicks and remaining eggs I lost lots of fully developed chicks still in the egg, to mom losing her commitment to the eggs to watch over the chicks. I found if you leave them they hatch more of the eggs.....however, I'm going to pick up an incubator to throw these eggs in and finish, once mom has too many hatched chicks to tend to and spends little time sitting on the remaining eggs.
Do you have one of those wire cages for transporting chickens? Or a dog crate? Moving her usually will break the broody (I moved one 1 foot over and she went back to her old spot, taking some eggs with her....not the one that had pipped
) but if you pick her and the eggs and bedding up, put it in something safe from the predators but put it right back where she was, you may not break her broodieness but keep her safe. Once she hatches the chicks (21-25 days), move her where you want to raise the chicks.
Good luck, I love watching broodies with chicks!
