Rains might come - broody hen outside

[Johnchickens2]

Hi all. We had quite a few warm and sunny weeks here, but now i heard on TV that next week there might be some rain. And I have a broody outside! She is protected from dangers but im not sure if the place is protected from water .... will the rain destroy the eggs? Will she stay in the nest to protect the eggs from the rain?

 

[cavemanrich]

Chickens do not like water. You may have heard the term.."MADDER THAN A WET HEN"
She may decide to seek shelter from rain. That means your eggs are done.
You don't provide much details. Is the chicken near your home??? or somewhere more distant?
If you still have some time,,,,, like a couple days,,, consider making a rain-resistant structure over where she is.
Can you take hen and nest-box she is in,,, and place inside your home,,, garage,,, shed????


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Perris]

Is she a first time or an experienced broody @Johnchickens2 ? Has she been there long or just started?

I would expect a committed broody to stay put and shelter her clutch of eggs from rain, whereas moving her might break her. If she's been there more than a few days, and you can rig up some shelter over her, and there's no risk to the eggs from groundwater, I'd leave her be.

 

[aart]

"MADDER THAN A WET HEN"

I think that saying comes from dunking a broody in a bucket of water to break the broodiness. Many of my hens love to forage in the rain.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know what that nest looks like or if water will stand on that ground in a heavy rain. Standing water over the eggs would not be good. I cannot say there is no risk. We are forecast to get 2" of rain next Wednesday, that is enough to cause localized flooding.

But for thousands of years hens have been hatching eggs in the environment with no help from humans. Often they got rained on. I'm sure some lost their nest in a severe event. Most of the time rain was not a problem.

Most of the time when my hens hide a nest it is not out in the open where it is easy to set a shelter over them. If you can build some type of shelter over her to keep rain off of her without it scaring her off the nest and causing her to break from being broody you can certainly try it. Usually with mine that is not practical. Usually with mine a heavy rain is not that big of a problem.

If you want to try moving her and her eggs you can. Create a space big enough for a nest, food and water, and just a bit else for her to go poop. Move her and the eggs at night and leave her locked in there until the eggs hatch. The biggest risk is that she might not accept the move, but if you feel she and the eggs are in danger where they are it might be worth it.