# Moving a Broody hen..



## wintrrwolf (Sep 29, 2009)

I have heard some move their broody hen to a safe location set up for hen and chicks and have thought of doing that myself BUT...
It took this hen a week to decide which nesting box to settle in
She just got a scare the other day, don't want to upset her again
and for the big surprise...this broody is actually one of my red sex-link hens that are not suppose to have a broody bone in their bodies.
What should I do? Should I wait until after hatch then move them? Just afraid they will fall out of the nest and another chicken will eat them.


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

We move ours. Sounds like it's really important to move yours. What if she moves again mid-sitting and you confuse the half ready eggs for today's eggs? That's happened to others here. Not the best thing in the world to find a half developed chick in your scrambled eggs.


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## wintrrwolf (Sep 29, 2009)

Well she has been on this nest consistantly for the last week +, she only got off of it once and that was when a possum got in the coop house, and then she went right back to it. Neighbors took care of the possum problem and we make sure all the doors on the coop house are closed now. Just not sure where would be as safe to move her too. I don't have a seperate house for brroders/breeders yet.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

i dont like moveing hens, if my set up is cookie cutter where all the nests look the same (which is usually why hens mix up what nest they belong on) or if the nest she chose is a nest EVERYONE likes then i attach a screen to the front of that nest, this keeps the other hens out and sence you have to let her off once a day at feeding time you can be sure and lock her into the right nest when she is done, that way she stays secure and you dont have to worry about her spooking off the nest or her eggs getting messed up from other hens, 

what type of nests do you have? there are lots of ways to put a screen on a nest front.


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

we set up a large dog box as our setting box. a thick layer of wood chips and a wind screen of cardboard. We move her in the evening.


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## Dazlin (Nov 26, 2007)

If you move her now, she may not stay. When I have hens that won't be moved, I wait till the first chick hatches, then move them all to the floor. If you don't have a separate area, you could turn a large rubbermaid bin on its side. Put some bedding down, I use hay, food and water.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

its easy to move a setting hen. ive done it many, many times. you need to let her set for about a week so that shes setting good and hard. then go out at night, pick up her nest with her in it, and just move it to where ever you want her to be....................you can do the same thing even if shes not in a nest "box" just pick her up IN THE DARK, and her eggs and carry them to where ever you please.

ive had a couple of sex link hens go broody, it irratates me, i want them to keep laying. thats their job.


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## The Bunny Ranch (Nov 3, 2010)

I have Buff Orpingtons...they are notorious for going broody. The best advice is to move them at night. Make sure the place is away from other animals that may startle them. If they feel like the nest is in a place that will cause them harm they will reject it.


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## stefrobrts (Oct 12, 2010)

I move mine, usually to a rubbermaid container in a chicken tractor. When hen starts going broody I'll keep pulling the eggs from under her, but I'll give her some golf balls to sit on. Then I can move her and see if she sets in the new place. If she does then a couple days later I'll replace the golf balls with eggs I have saved up. That has worked for me all but once. I was surprised to have a hen that quit being broody after the move, because usually if you DON'T want them to be broody you can move them all you want and they won't stop  

The first broody hen I had I just let her stay in the coop and the other hens pushed in and added eggs to her nest and some got pushed out when she turned them, and she ended up trying to cover 13 eggs and only 3 hatched - it was a disaster! Since then I always move broodys to their own private coop.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

We moved our brooding buff orpington after she had been nesting over a week. We did so at night and placed her and the "entire" brooding nest she had created into a "duck house" we had built. (This is a 8' x 3' box with utility wire over rebar for a floor, a divider in middle & a solid roof that opens up. It sits a foot off the ground and is 3-1/2' tall. For chickens, we place a sheet of treated plywood over the floor wiring and pad the entire thing with straw or shavings, whatever we happen to have at the time.) She hatched out 32 chickens.

The next time we did the very same thing, moving another brooding hen at night and the following morning she had torn up her nest and crushed some of the eggs. She obviously didn't appreciate her new living quarters.

Why some hens accept the move and others don't is still a quandary to me.


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## wintrrwolf (Sep 29, 2009)

The nesting box is actually and old wooden bookcase turned on its side with boards inserted in, making a total of 6 nesting squares. She finally choose one of the lower nesting "squares". She doesn't get off the nest for anything! So have been feeding and watering her there. I like the idea of screening her's off a bit and waiting until the eggs start hatching before moving her. If I only get 3 out of 14 thats about what I get out of my incubator  will take a pic when neighbor brings back my camera


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

leave her there and mark her eggs, pull out any new eggs, she will be fine


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