We’ve got a broody, We’ve got eggs...Now what?

[Gilbird]

One of our hens has finally gone broody. She’s been sitting on unfertile eggs for about five days, and we are getting fertile ones tomorrow that I would like to put under her. Right now she is sitting in a nesting box in the coop. I have a couple questions on how best to proceed:

-Should I separate her? I can section off part of the coop under the nesting boxes so she would be on the floor, but still part of the coop. Or bring her into the house or garage? I didn’t know if it would be better to keep her as part of the coop, so the other chickens could see her but not get to her or the eggs.

-Should she be put in a box? If so, is it better to have a top/ ‘roof’ over her head?

-How best to introduce the fertile eggs? Day or night? When we move her or wait till she’s settled?

Any help or advise is greatly appreciated. We just came off a disastrous incubator hatch, so I’d really like this to be successful.

 

[sumi]

Broody hens do not take kindly to being moved, so letting her sit where she is now would be ideal. Unless the rest of the flock have been bothering her, or adding eggs to her nest, in which case blocking her off for most of the day (she'll need to get out now and then to eat, dust bath, etc) would be better.

If she is sheltered and safe where she is sitting now, don't mess with her by putting stuff over or around her. It may stress her and cause her to abandon the nest.

Swap out the eggs in the evening, when she is sleepy and less likely to take off, or make a fuss. Just remove the eggs from under her and replace them with the fertile ones.

Best of luck!

 

[chickens really]

If the eggs are fertile I move my Broody Hens all the time without issues...Set her up a Brooder box and supply her fertile eggs, feed and water. Enough room to get of eggs too poop and she does the rest..

 

[Gilbird]

Thanks so much for the help! I attempted to move her tonight to a sectioned off area and she went absolutely berserk, so I guess she’s staying in the nesting box

I have not seen her eat, drink or poop at all in about four days. I put food and water next to her, but she showed absolutely no interest. Is there any way to entice her? She even turned her back on meal worms that were set right in front of her.

 

[dunnmom]

Make sure you mark her eggs. You can use a pencil or permanent marker. That way if someone makes a deposit in her nest, you can easily tell which don't belong there.

Also, if she's not too aggressive, you can try to pick her up and set her down in the run in front of some food once a day to encourage her to take care of herself and stretch her legs. She should go back to her nest when she's finished without prompting. I did that with mine until the day before hatch day, which is when I partitioned her area off from the rest of the coop.

 

[Flamens Farm]

After 5 years of having chickens, I finally have a broody hen. It's been 8 days of her barely getting off the nest for a few bites so I sectioned her off right in the nest she picked and placed a small 2 section food storage dish there about 3 days ago, one with water the other food. She did not touch it until finally today she was eating and drinking from it. I guess she did it in her own time. Now the wait begins!