So I have a broody sitting on eggs.....any advice?

[Urbanchicken62]

It's amazing, but chickens have been figuring out how to do this for a long time all on their own. They get up and eat and drink once or twice a day and really don't need any special attention. You do have to pick up eggs regularly out of any other egg boxes, because they will get up to eat and then sit on the wrong eggs. Also, after the chicks hatch move mom and the chicks out of your egg box to another location in your coop. If you let mom keep the chicks in your egg box too long its hard to break the chicks from sleeping in the eggs box at night. 4 week old chicks and mom sleeping in an egg box at night is a pile of poop in your egg box! I have a rabbit cage that I put in the floor of the coop to give mom and the chicks a semi private spot away from other hens.

 

[Poultry keeper12]

I like to put my broody hens in a cat or dog cage so that they are left alone by the other hens. Put her in a smallish cage with the eggs, make sure she has food and water, and make sure the cage is big enough for her to get off the nest and poop. Broody hens only poop once or twice a day so when they do it is massive and stinky, you don't want that on her eggs. I also like to open up the cage once or twice a day to let her stretch her wings and this is when they usually prefer to poop. I put the hens in a separate area so that the other hens do not push her around and try to lay on top of her, this usually results in a broken egg sooner or later. Also, when the chicks hatch if the mom can not protect them from the other hens there is a high chance the other hens will kill and eat them like they would a mouse. I like to keep the moms and chicks separate from the main flock. And if you do let the mom keep the chicks with the flock I have realized that she will often abandon them once they reach 3 or 4 weeks.

Very Smart!

 

[Kessel23]

Also, if you are looking to break a broody you can do the same thing I recommended before but just not put the eggs in with her. Unless she is crazy and starts to incubate the floor, she should snap out of her broody stage and start to lay again.

 

[WhatAboutBob?]

Great advice so far! I am going to leave her in the nest box for the next week or so, then will move her to a dog crate if she persists. My nest boxes are all elevated about 2 foot off the floor. If she sticks it out I will move her and the nest onto floor level.

Again, my gratitude for all of your input.

 

[WhatAboutBob?]

Update for anyone watching, I confirmed 4 eggs today. My girl is firmly entrenched on the nest so far... I did give her a good portion of black soldierfly larvae which she devoured and then heartily ate crumbles after I extracted her from the nest to mark the eggs.

 

[bobbi-j]

Update for anyone watching, I confirmed 4 eggs today. My girl is firmly entrenched on the nest so far... I did give her a good portion of black soldierfly larvae which she devoured and then heartily ate crumbles after I extracted her from the nest to mark the eggs.

Oh, good - I was just going to remind you to mark the eggs! Sometimes I will move a broody to another part of the coop where she has plenty of room to get up and eat and drink, stretch her legs and take care of business. You don't want to feed her on the nest or have food and water too close to the nest. As stated above, if she doesn't get off the nest to eat and drink, she could poop on the eggs and ruin them. I have also left a broody in with the general population (mainly because she wanted nothing to do with the nice little nest I made for her in the "maternity ward". She didn't want to be sequestered, I guess.) When I can convince them to be separated, I will wait a week or so to let her and the chicks back in with the flock. I used to wait until they were bigger, but learned here on BYC that mama is not quite as protective at 4 weeks as she is at 1 week (or 24 hours like my stubborn girl last year). Integrate them early, and if something happens to the hen, the chicks are already established in the flock. That's what happened here a few years ago. The hen was killed, leaving four 5-week old orphans. But they had already been accepted into the flock at a week old, so they got along just fine. You could leave them where they are and move them to floor level after they hatch. Moving her could break her broodiness. I've only had that happen once, to a hen that had been sitting for over a week. I moved her because she was in an unsafe place. Very vulnerable to predators. I hope you have a good experience with your broody!

 

[Redguitar77]

Oh, good - I was just going to remind you to mark the eggs! Sometimes I will move a broody to another part of the coop where she has plenty of room to get up and eat and drink, stretch her legs and take care of business. You don't want to feed her on the nest or have food and water too close to the nest. As stated above, if she doesn't get off the nest to eat and drink, she could poop on the eggs and ruin them. I have also left a broody in with the general population (mainly because she wanted nothing to do with the nice little nest I made for her in the "maternity ward". She didn't want to be sequestered, I guess.) When I can convince them to be separated, I will wait a week or so to let her and the chicks back in with the flock. I used to wait until they were bigger, but learned here on BYC that mama is not quite as protective at 4 weeks as she is at 1 week (or 24 hours like my stubborn girl last year). Integrate them early, and if something happens to the hen, the chicks are already established in the flock. That's what happened here a few years ago. The hen was killed, leaving four 5-week old orphans. But they had already been accepted into the flock at a week old, so they got along just fine. You could leave them where they are and move them to floor level after they hatch. Moving her could break her broodiness. I've only had that happen once, to a hen that had been sitting for over a week. I moved her because she was in an unsafe place. Very vulnerable to predators. I hope you have a good experience with your broody!

So much good advice! Thank you!

 

[WhatAboutBob?]

Oh, good - I was just going to remind you to mark the eggs! Sometimes I will move a broody to another part of the coop where she has plenty of room to get up and eat and drink, stretch her legs and take care of business. You don't want to feed her on the nest or have food and water too close to the nest. As stated above, if she doesn't get off the nest to eat and drink, she could poop on the eggs and ruin them. I have also left a broody in with the general population (mainly because she wanted nothing to do with the nice little nest I made for her in the "maternity ward". She didn't want to be sequestered, I guess.) When I can convince them to be separated, I will wait a week or so to let her and the chicks back in with the flock. I used to wait until they were bigger, but learned here on BYC that mama is not quite as protective at 4 weeks as she is at 1 week (or 24 hours like my stubborn girl last year). Integrate them early, and if something happens to the hen, the chicks are already established in the flock. That's what happened here a few years ago. The hen was killed, leaving four 5-week old orphans. But they had already been accepted into the flock at a week old, so they got along just fine. You could leave them where they are and move them to floor level after they hatch. Moving her could break her broodiness. I've only had that happen once, to a hen that had been sitting for over a week. I moved her because she was in an unsafe place. Very vulnerable to predators. I hope you have a good experience with your broody!

That is definitely food for thought! I came across a caterpillar today and gave it to her in the nest. I was working in the barn today and confirmed that she did get off the nest to eat and drink. So far so good, the others are letting her be and using the other nesting boxes even though it’s a traffic jam, LOL! I will post a pic in a bit. I think I very well might wait until they are hatched to move the nest into my dog crate.

 

[bobbi-j]

That is definitely food for thought! I came across a caterpillar today and gave it to her in the nest. I was working in the barn today and confirmed that she did get off the nest to eat and drink. So far so good, the others are letting her be and using the other nesting boxes even though it’s a traffic jam, LOL! I will post a pic in a bit. I think I very well might wait until they are hatched to move the nest into my dog crate.

Or... just move them to the coop floor and let Mama take care of them?

 

[WhatAboutBob?]

The 2 left nests had pullets laying and the next crew all queued up to be next! The far right next is the broody.