When I had my first, I took the advice to move her, did so, sat for 10 days and moved back to the nest she liked. Ugh, lost that clutch. Went to town and got new chicks and put them under her, and she raised them in the flock with no introduction issues, convinced me that nothing was more fun than a hen with chicks, and being the brooder is much better left to being a hen.
I have nest boxes that really only permit one hen at a time. And every time I have had a broody hen, she was the meanest thing in the coop.....even if she had been quite docile before that. So I just leave them alone.... and so do the layers. I don't get her off her nest, but I don't lock her on a nest either. Most of the time, I just leave them alone and see what happens.
If you catch her off the nest, that is a good time to mark the eggs. One really does not want new eggs being added, as that will cause you to lose most of the clutch. If that is a problem, I would leave the broody, and put nesting boxes outside the coop in the run and make the layers lay there. You might have to lock them out for a few days till they will use the other nests. A lot of people candle the eggs, which is not a bad idea, but you have to bother the hen to do so, and I don't do that.
In my experience, and I have had 5 hens raise clutches in the flock, I get one a year, the most DANGERous time is day 20. What can happen is that some eggs will hatch a couple of hours ahead of the other chicks. They get dried off, and go out to see the world. The broody hen is still trying to get the rest to hatch, and the layers will kill the new chick. So again, maybe even on day 19, I lock the layers out of the coup. Now this always happens to me in May/June so the weather is not a problem. I always have roosts in my run and in my coop, so that is not a problem. Once all the eggs have hatched that are going to hatch (don't try and peek, that upsets the hen) then the broody hen will stand guard over her chicks.
In my experience, my hen always leaves the hatching nest, and builds a new clean one on the floor of the coop. When the chicks are just a week-10 days old, I make sure that there is a wide board a couple of feet off the ground, so that mama and chicks can roost, and still get under mama if needed. The urge to roost is a strong one, and can cause the hen to leave the chicks, if you don't provide this board.
When with the flock, they will be a separate unit. The broody hen will position herself between the layers and the chicks. The chicks learn quickly to stay near mama and away from the layers. The layers may give them a peck, but mama will take their heads off, and they quickly back down. When the chicks are less than 4 weeks old, they are part of the flock (althoughbeit, a submissive part) and the layers pretty much ignore them.
I will always keep a few breeds that are broody breeds, because I love to have chicks this way. Now, you need to realize, that you might not get those perfect hatching rates, and there maybe some chicks that don't thrive, but if you leave it alone, the chicks that do live, will be athletic, healthy, and energetic chicks and hens. My mama bird brings them out of the coop within 2 days, and they are out climbing over grass and sticks, eating bugs at that time.
Mrs K
