what to do with broody chicken.

[marvun22]

my golden laced wyandotte hen wants to hatch her eggs. she only leaves her spot once if any times per day to eat and drink. here's the problem, she wants to sit on them at night. there is a chicken-craving coon out at night. i put her in the coop every night, but she can jump from her perch to over the chicken wire to get out. her egg spot is a place in a square-bale stack where ive removed some bales so there is an indent. for the night i either could lock her in a pet carrier inside the coop or i could close off her egg spot from any outside contact. it would be pitch dark if i sealed off her egg spot. i could put a mini light inside there. what should i do.

 

[DanEP]

Just move her and her eggs to a secure place. If she's really broody she will still sit on them. You might find that your pet carrier makes a great broody nest inside the coop where she will be safe.I'd move the eggs into the carrier then put her in and close the door. She may not like the change at first, but if she really wants to set she will adjust.

 

[marvun22]

she is in the stage of broodiness where she has layed all the eggs she needs to sit on and she has stopped. but i took all of them so she's actually sitting on nothing. and she wants THAT spot to sit on. i brought her and her egg somewhere else a couple days ago and she wants that spot. and honestly i would let her sit on her eggs if she did it in the coop for two reasons. 1, the coon is out at night and it could eat her. 2 the coop is the only place safe from cats if the cats would try to kill the chicks. tonight i did a sort of mean thing and put her and another turd bird on a really high place where they'd be to scared to jump down. as for eggs i could give her some other eggs such as duck and other chickens. the worst part is that the rooster hardly ever, if ever catches her so im not even sure if the eggs are fertilized.

 

[JackE]

What you need is a broody buster cage. I use a wire box trap, but any small animal cage can work as long as it doesn't have a solid bottom. You want cool air to get under the chicken. Put the broody in there for 3-4 days. Make sure you elevate the cage up off the ground so air can get under the hen. You can put a small water and feed container in there. It is hard on the hen going broody, they don't eat or drink right or get proper exercise. And they can stay in that state for weeks. If they are not going to hatch the eggs, you need to break that cycle, you are actually doing her a BIG favor.
Jack

 

[marvun22]

i would like for her to sit on her eggs but i just cant let her right now because of the coon

 

[bobbi-j]

You have something else besides what to do with your broody to think about. If she can get out (by jumping from her perch over the chicken wire) that coon most certainly can get in! I would suggest two things. #1 - replace the chicken wire with something that a coon, dog, fox, possum, coyote or any other semi-determined animal can't get into. Chicken wire is not strong at all. If an animal wants in, it can tear it apart very easily. #2 - Put a top over your run. As I stated before, if your chicken can get out, other animals can get in. They can easily climb up the chicken wire and over the top.

If you decide to let her set on some fertile eggs, it can be very effective to move her at night. It's not a guarantee, but I've had better luck doing it that way than moving them during the day. Do not ever put any kind of light in hay or straw bales. You could start a fire. I'm not sure how high up you put your birds so they'd be "too scared to jump down", but my chickens voluntarily roost in our 8' high rafters. If I let them spend the night outside, they'd be high up in the trees.

 

[marvun22]

the way the wire is made prevents this the wire starts curving as it gets higher so it is near impossible to get in and much easier to get out. ill ask this question as you seem like a chicken expert as you have raised them for around 25 years. i let that broody chicken sit on some eggs. dont worry i will leave her trapped in her egg spot all night so she cant get out and nothing else can get in. i gave her 1 chicken egg and 2 duck eggs. the 2 duck eggs were out for a couple hours before could they still hatch.

 

[bobbi-j]

Do you mean that the duck eggs had been laid a couple of hours before you set them? Or what did you mean by " were out for a couple of hours"? I have kept chicken eggs on the counter for a week before setting nd they've hatched. Did you set your chicken and duck eggs the same day? That could be a problem if I remember correctly what the gestation period for a duck is. It's approximately 21 days for chickens, and I think 28 for ducks. That means you chick would hatch a week before the ducklings and the hen may abandon the nest before they hatch. If you start the ducks a week before and then slip the chicken egg in, it should work. Hopefully someone with experience with ducks will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong. (I'm not an "expert" by any means. There is always something new to learn, no matter how long one has been doing something. =) )

 

[marvun22]

if thats the case ill just put a chicken egg in next monday. if an egg is refrigerated for a couple days could it still be sat on.

 

[bobbi-j]

I haven't tried incubating a refrigerated one, but it won't hurt to try. Maybe you can get a better answer on the incubating and hatching thread. Good luck!