Trying to keep broody hen on fertilized eggs safe

[boxermizer]

I have a bantam hen that goes broody every year, sometimes several times a year. I don't mind this, I actually like the idea (chicken raising babies, not me), but it seems I encounter one issue after another. She has successfully hatched a few chicks and ducklings, but the success rate is low. When she goes broody in the chicken coop, other chickens disturb her and lay their eggs in her nesting box. When this happens I have to figure out which are fresh and remove them. This often means disturbing her as I miss when she gets up. I don't like that and neither does she. But it also means that when babies first hatch another chicken (maybe a guinea - I've gotten rid of them) may harm them. So last year I built a "broody" coop to separate her. She sat in the chicken coop for about 5 days, but I cleaned the broody coop and tried putting her in it yesterday. She flipped out and went crazy. I finally decided to leave her alone and waited until she roosted last night, then I put her in the nesting box she'd been in, on a couple of the eggs. Once she'd settled there for a couple hours, I put her and those eggs in with the rest of the eggs in the broody coop. She settled and seemed fine. She was still fine early this morning. However, when I went out a few hours later, she was in the run portion of that coop squawking and trying to get out. I let her out so she didn't get too stressed. She's since gone into the regular coop and is on a roost. I imagine if I put eggs a nesting box, she'll probably sit on them. 1) Should I even mess with her/them since she's been off the eggs for a fair amount between yesterday and this morning? But another chicken got in there yesterday during the turmoil and immediately broke and egg and it was definitely fertilized and developing. 2) More importantly, how should I handle this for the future? Is there another way to transition her to the "broody" coop? Should I put the eggs back in the coop/nesting box she was in during the day once she freaks out then move her after dark to the "broody" coop and hope that she will eventually stay there?

 

[BlueBaby]

You could always mark the egg's that you want her to sit on, and then remove any that have been added that do not have your mark on them. Or, you can pen her off separate close to the other's in a pen that chick's won't be able to get through openings once they hatch, providing a dishes or bowl's of food or water.

Edit: if you have another hen that is the same size as she is, maybe you could put them both in the broody coop together. That way she won't be alone and you would only have to worry about one other hen trying to lay egg's in with hers. Mark those one's that you do want her to hatch, though.

 

[boxermizer]

I already have them marked. I just don't like disturbing her daily to remove the newer eggs. She doesn't like me bothering her either. My regular chicken coop in relatively small, off the ground type, so I can't think of a way to section off part of it yet still give her the ability to move about when she needs to. I do have another bantam and it probably wouldn't be an issue to put the 2 together, but I just got a bantam rooster this spring, so he wouldn't have his girls if I separated both of them. But then he goes after the full grown chickens, so maybe it wouldn't be a big deal. I don't know if he'd mess with the eggs or chicks once they hatch??? I did have all 3 bantams in this pen for several months this spring because a duck that they'd hatched last year wouldn't leave them alone and was making them bleed. I've since found him a new home. So other than wondering if the bantam rooster should go in there with them or whether he'd bother the eggs/chicks, this might be a good solution that I hadn't thought of.