Should I move my broody hen to hatch her chicks?

[GigitheBackyardHerbilist]

Oh my how sweet! Is momma taking care of this chick or still sitting on eggs? If the ramp is very tiny they might be able to do it, but it’s too tiny to navigate a ramp to a tall nest box. Can you move them to a safe dog crate on the floor? I have never separated my broody mommas from the flock and it has gone well each time. Mommas will keep the babies close to her and the other hens will learn very quickly to give the new family lots of space. Integration is built right into her having the babies with the rest of the flock.

I have a brooding pen on the floor. All ready. I went to move them to make it easier to clean up, and safer, because I have eggs exploding and the smell.. But I keep trying to get the bad eggs out and clean the mess without eggs getting hurt, rolling or worse.
It was just passed the 22nd day this last weekend and it started smelling bad. With the raccoon getting in and eating some,I had been trying to just let them be after the clean up. Trying to gently change straw when they went out to eat. Then they started going one at a time. They were pushing bad (?) eggs out. I would get rid of those. When they started exploding I had to do something. I went to move them and their eggs and there is a chick. Now they're really growly. And with all the other eggs that must be in a different rate of gestation. I was afraid to disturb things. It's pretty high up there, so I set the brooder up under I'll post a picture shortly, and added straw on top of pen. I thought maybe a ramp.... Let them move themselves?

 

[GigitheBackyardHerbilist]

That's the inside and the darker pictures are the opening of the pen. They jump up above it for the perches?

 

[NorthernMIFlock]

Looks like a cozy place to brood, but not the best for babies. It looks like a big enough space to fence off to keep the babies safe, and maybe put food and water up there till the rest of the eggs hatch? With your staggered hatch situation, wondering if you could try to candle the remaining eggs and maybe try incubating them. If they hatch in the next couple days you could could give them to momma and get her moved.

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

A little update on my thoughts: my new plan was to move her once the first chick has hatched
but today the unthinkable happend and while my hen was outside one of my hens layed an egg in her nest and it was a soft egg so it exploded in the nest luckily only one egg got it on them and that egg was a dud already so I just tossed that one.
but I’m kinda thinking about moving her tonight so that day 18,19,20 and day 21 she can have in peace and the risk of her getting disrupted is not possible.
How does that sound? And how risky is it?

I have also found blood on her eggs from her pulling out her feathers so much is that normal?

 

[NorthernMIFlock]

A little update on my thoughts: my new plan was to move her once the first chick has hatched
but today the unthinkable happend and while my hen was outside one of my hens layed an egg in her nest and it was a soft egg so it exploded in the nest luckily only one egg got it on them and that egg was a dud already so I just tossed that one.
but I’m kinda thinking about moving her tonight so that day 18,19,20 and day 21 she can have in peace and the risk of her getting disrupted is not possible.
How does that sound? And how risky is it?

I have also found blood on her eggs from her pulling out her feathers so much is that normal?

Wow, that’s going to be a big age difference for your hatching chicks. If it were me, I would have a brooder and heat source waiting just in case. Also, for the future I would try to rearrange your nesting area so it’s not so high and make sure other hens aren’t laying eggs in it. Also you mentioned raccoons getting in? It has to be predator proof or you could lose more than just eggs . As far as the blood, hens will pull out their breast feathers when broody, maybe she’s just being too rough? I hope everything works out well going forward!

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Wow, that’s going to be a big age difference for your hatching chicks. If it were me, I would have a brooder and heat source waiting just in case. Also, for the future I would try to rearrange your nesting area so it’s not so high and make sure other hens aren’t laying eggs in it. Also you mentioned raccoons getting in? It has to be predator proof or you could lose more than just eggs . As far as the blood, hens will pull out their breast feathers when broody, maybe she’s just being too rough? I hope everything works out well going forward!

Thank your for the answer, i didn’t have any raccoons in my coop, the other person that has been asking questions on this thread is the one with the raccoon

All my eggs are on day 17(one on day 16) but on day 18 they go into lockdown and the hen isn’t supposed to leave the nest so that’s why I’m thinking about moving her tonight so she can have the whole lockdown thing in peace

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I was aware This time that someone else started asking questions on your thread, but yes that is confusing and would be better for the other person to make their own thread. In general, I think your plan to move your broody After the first chick hatches is better than moving her now. There is almost no chance a broody will abandon her eggs once the first chick has hatched, but there is a Slight risk she will try to abandon them if you move her tonight. If you move her tonight, consider blocking her nest box so she doesn't try to leave at dawn's first light. Also, I see you are in Denmark and so your weather may not be a factor, but during my hot Texas summers, I insist my broodies come off the eggs even during "lockdown". They mainly need to drink water, but it's also best for their health to continue with short breaks to eat, poop and stretch their legs.

Ultimately you have to use your intuition and do what you think is best for your situation. An alternative to moving your hen tonight is to block her nest off so other hens can't access it, but allow her to come off the nest once per day for her broody break. (You would need to block the other hens from her nest while she is out.) And then on day 20, block her nest off until she hatches all chicks, and move her then. I'm not claiming this idea is better than your plan to move her tonight; it is simply an alternative. Again, follow your intuition to do what you think is best.

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

I was aware This time that someone else started asking questions on your thread, but yes that is confusing and would be better for the other person to make their own thread. In general, I think your plan to move your broody After the first chick hatches is better than moving her now. There is almost no chance a broody will abandon her eggs once the first chick has hatched, but there is a Slight risk she will try to abandon them if you move her tonight. If you move her tonight, consider blocking her nest box so she doesn't try to leave at dawn's first light. Also, I see you are in Denmark and so your weather may not be a factor, but during my hot Texas summers, I insist my broodies come off the eggs even during "lockdown". They mainly need to drink water, but it's also best for their health to continue with short breaks to eat, poop and stretch their legs.

Ultimately you have to use your intuition and do what you think is best for your situation. An alternative to moving your hen tonight is to block her nest off so other hens can't access it, but allow her to come off the nest once per day for her broody break. (You would need to block the other hens from her nest while she is out.) And then on day 20, block her nest off until she hatches all chicks, and move her then. I'm not claiming this idea is better than your plan to move her tonight; it is simply an alternative. Again, follow your intuition to do what you think is best.

Thank you for the answer
in Denmark it’s around 62 degrees (at the most) and it has been raining for the past week and it will continue to rain heavily for the next 10 days or so. I have a crate with a lock so that she can’t come out if I decide to move her

Something in my gut is telling me to wait to move her until the first chick has hatched and then move her.
I will definitely block her nest off so no other hen can try and get in there.
However I’m very split between moving her or not as it is her and my first time with a Broody hen so I don’t know how she will react when that first chick comes out and if the flock can stress her out in any way
She is getting more aggressive towards me so I hope that means she is getting ready for the final stretch
I have a brooder all set up for her and everything is ready to go in case I feel the need to move her tonight or any other night

 

[GigitheBackyardHerbilist]

Looks like a cozy place to brood, but not the best for babies. It looks like a big enough space to fence off to keep the babies safe, and maybe put food and water up there till the rest of the eggs hatch? With your staggered hatch situation, wondering if you could try to candle the remaining eggs and maybe try incubating them. If they hatch in the next couple days you could could give them to momma and get her moved.

One is now In the brooder pin with her baby and the eggs she was on. The other mama had a baby but she had smothered it. I'm guessing but it was dead it's the one I heard a couple days ago but didn't see. The next day I went and it was quiet so I thought I heard birds from outside. She went back up on the nest on the fresh eggs. She does not want to move but Shofar heard her baby and went right down to her on her own and is sitting on her eggs I carefully moved. I put food a warmer and water down in the brooder pin.
I left Alice on her new batch of eggs.

 

[GigitheBackyardHerbilist]

One is now In the brooder pin with her baby and the eggs she was on. The other mama had a baby but she had smothered it. I'm guessing but it was dead it's the one I heard a couple days ago but didn't see. The next day I went and it was quiet so I thought I heard birds from outside. She went back up on the nest on the fresh eggs. She does not want to move but Shofar heard her baby and went right down to her on her own and is sitting on her eggs I carefully moved. I put food a warmer and water down in the brooder pin.
I left Alice on her new batch of eggs.

I'm really bummed about the dead baby