Please help. Hen went broody. Chaos ensued.

[Tired old Rooster]

About three days ago, Spindly decided she wants to be a Mom. This happened with the days catch of three eggs. (I have four young hens). Noticing that she was on nest all day, I reacted quickly and place the last six eggs I took under her. (max 16 hours after she went hot).

I got a glimpse of affairs the day after when she was drinking water at the dispenser, and there seemed to be nine or ten eggs there.

Now comes the trouble part of my tale.

Spindly is on her nest. No new eggs have appeared anywhere at all. And today when I went out after my nap to let them range, Spindly was complaining, because Goofy was trying to squeeze herself out of the same nest. She likely laid and egg there.

Will the others keep laying? And how can I convince them to use the other nests if they do?

Having nightmares about Spindly balancing on a pile of three dozen eggs because no one figured out that the nest next door is an option.

And yes, I have a Roo that is an awesome gentleman and has needs, so fertility is expected.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

About three days ago, Spindly decided she wants to be a Mom. This happened with the days catch of three eggs. (I have four young hens). Noticing that she was on nest all day, I reacted quickly and place the last six eggs I took under her. (max 16 hours after she went hot).

I got a glimpse of affairs the day after when she was drinking water at the dispenser, and there seemed to be nine or ten eggs there.

Now comes the trouble part of my tale.

Spindly is on her nest. No new eggs have appeared anywhere at all. And today when I went out after my nap to let them range, Spindly was complaining, because Goofy was trying to squeeze herself out of the same nest. She likely laid and egg there.

Will the others keep laying? And how can I convince them to use the other nests if they do?

Having nightmares about Spindly balancing on a pile of three dozen eggs because no one figured out that the nest next door is an option.

And yes, I have a Roo that is an awesome gentleman and has needs, so fertility is expected.

The first thing that I would do is to mark the original eggs, the ones that you want her to hatch. Put an X on one end to show that they are hers. Each morning (or whenever you check the nest boxes), take out any non-marked eggs, leaving her only with the marked ones.

 

[BDutch]

Yes, if you can not separate your broody from the others, you definitely need to mark the eggs and remove all the new eggs every day. This is okay if there is not too much disturbance. Adding another nest with fake eggs might help to encourage the other hens to lay elsewhere.

Some people prefer to separate the broody to give her a peaceful time without any disturbances. But often there is no possibility to separate the broody. You can’t lock her in the nest bc she needs space to go off the nest to eat, drink and poop once a day. Moving a broody to another setup often doesn’t work. This is the place she choose to breed. And moving her in a new setup often results in a grumpy broody leaving the nest and the eggs getting cold.

 

[CabritaChicks]

My free-range junglefowl has officially gone broody — and she’s proudly incubating… a rock.

Let’s just say they’re not exactly known for their brainpower. I placed the rock there so she would sit where hubby wont get bit.

I figured I’d try to distract her with some treats and food, and she made the executive decision to abandon her “precious stone baby” in favor of food I hid around the property in little dishes (soaked pellets with fresh veggies). Priorities, right? Not exactly rocket science, but at least her appetite still works perfectly.

So she has not sat for 24 hours- but time will tell this AM.

 

[Tired old Rooster]

Well, I went with the cordon off plan. Using various bric a brac, I enclosed that section, with her own water dispenser and a food bowl. Was still busy at it, when Henrietta deigned to notice there are two other nests and hopped in one. Hopefully that idea will catch on.

Thanks for the replies folks. Will update later with how it's going.