Should nest box for broody hen be on floor or up.

[PO in MO]

I have 3 chicken books but not one of them answers this question. If one of my hens goes broody I have a broody coop area in a shed ready. The boxes in my chicken tractor are 18 inches off the floor but I would assume you would take her and her nest box out of the tractor and put it on the floor of the broody coop so as the chicks hatch they don't have a long fall when they are ready to venture out of the box. Thanks for any replies.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

sometimes its not east to move a broody and her eggs, she may leave them to go and find her place. mine are up high but keep in mind the babies stay under mama until the last one hatches. i pull the babies when they hatch and put them in the brooder by themself. i have moved a silkie and her eggs to a brooder but it was a cage so, ya, she was on the floor. i took a little bit of her nesting material, the eggs, put a low box with no bottom because the brooder was wood already around them then brought the hen in and covered the cage so i wouldnt disturb her and she took to the nest right away.

 

[PO in MO]

Thanks for taking the time to reply granny hatchet. Just wondering how it all works. I have had new layers go broody in the past at a time I didn't want chicks so I put a stop to it. Now am getting some new chicks and am hoping one of them will be nice enough to hatch and raise some chicks for me. Just trying to figure out how to be ready if it happens.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

your welcome. sometimes it is hard to find what your looking for. i started with chickens for dummies (good book) but i find most of what i need on here.

 

[Kippies]

I have my chickens roaming the backyard freely. When any of them go broody, they usually make their nest on the ground, like under the hedge. Seems all natural to me. Since I don't have a rooster (I have friendly neighbours and would like to keep it that way ) they never hatched.
This year I want little chicks, but I'm a bit afraid of predators. So at night I moved my two broody hens, nest and all, into the chicken coop. In boxes on the ground. They seem very comfortable there and so far both left the nests only for their daily feed (except for a little incident with my youngest child who wanted to "help" moving chickens).

 

[PO in MO]

Thanks for the replies. I made a stand for my nest boxes today that allows me to have the boxes on the floor or raise up to 20 inches. By the time my last batch of barred rocks reached laying age they could easily get to the boxes at that height. If I am lucky enough to get a broody hen out of 3 buff orpington pullets I just got I will put that box down on the floor of the coop and see how it works out, Thanks again.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

well now, thats a great idea !! you will be ready one way or the other. a prepared person. i like it !!

 

[Moniquelucks]

sometimes its not east to move a broody and her eggs, she may leave them to go and find her place. mine are up high but keep in mind the babies stay under mama until the last one hatches. i pull the babies when they hatch and put them in the brooder by themself. i have moved a silkie and her eggs to a brooder but it was a cage so, ya, she was on the floor. i took a little bit of her nesting material, the eggs, put a low box with no bottom because the brooder was wood already around them then brought the hen in and covered the cage so i wouldnt disturb her and she took to the nest right away.

Can I just put the cat pan on the ground and would the hen go into to it . She is laying eggs but does not sit on them . I have them sitting in a plastic crate that I had in my garage and I turned it over on the side so she can lay the eggs but just wondering how high do I need to put it up off of the ground so that she can get into it And will eventually will she sleep in it . She just showed up at her backyard one afternoon. She was very noisy and now she’s very quiet. She just walks around the yard. She has laid 13 eggs but I do not think they are eggs. I’m not sure if she sits on them or not do I need to buy two cat boxes and put them together to keep it high off of the ground with the other animals can’t get? I’m new at this and I have no idea how to take care of a he

 

[NatJ]

Can I just put the cat pan on the ground and would the hen go into to it . She is laying eggs but does not sit on them . I have them sitting in a plastic crate that I had in my garage and I turned it over on the side so she can lay the eggs but just wondering how high do I need to put it up off of the ground so that she can get into it And will eventually will she sleep in it . She just showed up at her backyard one afternoon. She was very noisy and now she’s very quiet. She just walks around the yard. She has laid 13 eggs but I do not think they are eggs. I’m not sure if she sits on them or not do I need to buy two cat boxes and put them together to keep it high off of the ground with the other animals can’t get? I’m new at this and I have no idea how to take care of a he

Do you want a large number of chicks?
If not, just take the eggs and eat them. The hen will not mind.

It is normal for a hen to lay an egg and then walk away and leave it. Some hens will do that until they have a large clutch of eggs and then go broody and sit on the eggs to hatch them, but some other hens will never go broody and all the eggs would just sit there and rot.

On this site, it usually works better to start a new thread, instead of adding to an old one. And if you can post a photo of your hen (do it in a new thread), some people can probably tell you a bit about what kind of chicken she is. They may even be able to tell if she escaped from a good home (in which case you would want to find her owners and give her back) or if she has been living on her own for a while (so having her live at your place might be a good thing for her.)