She is not even 7 months old and she is sitting on eggs???

[Hope119]

what are the negative sides of moving broody hen away from others?
they'll forget her and it would be hard to go back into the pecking order?

I could have put her into the basement, it is warmer here, plus we can put a heat lamp. but she would have to be in that same cage (pic 2 ), not being able to go out

. But otherwise... she and her babies will have to stay in uninsulated unheated coop. Are there solar-powered heat lamps out there?

 

[chics in the sun]

What are the temps where you live?
My broody and her young'uns were in a seperate cage but where everyone could see eachother. I let her and her babies start free-ranging again with the others when they were two weeks, and overall they are incoorporating into the flock pretty well. I do have one Marans that is pecking out their feathers, and she may be going to chicken jail for a few days if she doesn't stop.

 

[Dora'smom]

She does sound broody, and yes it can happen that young. We had our first broody this fall, and she was about 5 1/2 months. When it became clear that she was truly dedicated, we got her some eggs. Predators stole two out from under her, but she successfully hatched out the remaining two Turkens. They are a little over seven weeks right now, and still separated with my husband's makeshift pen within the coop. He made a cordoned off area with deer fencing, and a couple of boards and a screw in the wall to hitch it onto. It works for the time being, and we will integrate soon.

 

[Hope119]

Quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_New_York_City :

Winters are typically cold. Temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) only occur about several times per decade on average, but temperatures of 10–20 °F (-12.2–-6.7 °C) are common at the height of typical winters, especially during cold nights. New York winters sometimes feature snowstorms that can paralyze the city with over a foot of snow. However, variation in the climate also occasionally renders winter mild and almost snowless (such as in 1997-98).

- that is about NYC, we are about an hour north, it is probably a bit colder here in general, compared to the city.​

 

[Hope119]

Can I move her off the nest (I know she'll complain) to at least see the eggs?, how many, remove the plastic ones, mark the ones that are there and maybe if there are new ones later - remove and eat them... I mean, we need eggs

DH is very unhappy and thinks we don't need this right now... if she started now, her chicks will be due around Dec 8th and on the 11th we are flying for vacation in Mexico until the Dec 20th... not sure our landlord would be happy to care for a bunch of chicks and their mama in addition to all other chickens (7+1roo)... well, I might ask some friends to help, but they all are 20-25 minutes drive from us...

what are other options? DH thinks if we keep taking eggs away from her now, then later when it gets colder, she forgets the whole idea until spring. What do you think?

 

[chics in the sun]

It doesn't sound like it's the right time for baby chicks at your house! Brrrrr!!!!......, and the vacation piece. You don't know what kind of Mama she will be yet, so it's important to be around in case you need to be the chicken CPS and remove her children. You can take away the eggs (she will growl), and put her in an area where there are no nest boxes. It may take a week to snap her out of her broodiness, but you DH is right - the cold weather will probably help.

 

[Hope119]

Thanks! What should we do with the eggs she's been sitting on for 2 days? cook and feed to chickens or eat ourselves?

 

[Hope119]

well. not 2 days... for most eggs, if not all, it is 1 day - they are from yesterday. 6 eggs I found, plus 2 plastic and one wooden one. I know the wooden one was on the floor before. so they pick eggs up from the floor and are able to put them up to the nest?? about 10 or more inches high. how do they do it?
When I took her from the nest and brought outside, one egg rolled out of her. So, she was holding it??

 

[Hope119]

I took one more egg from under her in the morning, and then 3 more at night. They are were pretty warm - just like from the incubator. Are those good to eat?

We had one black chicken that laid dark-green eggs and she is missing tonight

 

[chics in the sun]

Oh no!! Hope you find her! The eggs should be fine, especially with it being cool out.