Broody box

I've only ever bought chicks or point of lay. But one of my girls is broody.
This is my broody box, please critique

Are you trying to get her to sit, or to quit?

For sitting:

* You basically want it as similar as possible to the nest that she started sitting in. You can even leave her in the original nest for the first couple weeks of sitting, then move her to a maternity pen only when the babies are about to start to hatch.

* Ideally that means dark around the nest, with a good view out the door to see anything approaching.

* If you've got the space, it's ideal to put your broody's box somewhere where she can walk outside of it to her own food and water. That way the daily egg-sized poop can end up well away from the nest like nature intended.

* I find it helpful to size my nest boxes so each one fits a plastic dish pan, and then when it's time to move a broody before the eggs start hatching, I can pick up the entire pan with chicken, eggs, nest, and all.

For quitting:

* You want her somewhere as un-nest-like as possible -- bright light, no eggs, no shadowy corners to hide in

* I have a small fully enclosed run that shares a fence with the rest of the flock, and when I need broodies to stop I'll put them in there. No nestbox, just plants and perches up under a big porch roof. They seem to like the social contact as they get over themselves.

* A dog crate sized cage works ok, but the birds seem happier when I stop them brooding in a larger enclosure so they can walk around more

Tom - is that a Bantam sized chicken?
Do I assume that you pulled the fabric back for the picture and that normally it would cover a bit more of her nest area?

Amy Clarke wrote:

f you've got the space, it's ideal to put your broody's box somewhere where she can walk outside of it to her own food and water. That way the daily egg-sized poop can end up well away from the nest like nature intended.

Yes, that's ideal, but if I don't have the space, (Broodies seem to come in packs some years!) I make sure I've got sawdust for covering poops and try to let the Broody know I'm there to help her, and just clean up messes as they happen.

One space I use I can actually put a dog crate in to hold the nest, but there's fencing around an approximate 3ftx3ft area and the hens are pretty good about coming out of the crate to get their food, water and to poop. If that spot is full, I just use a much larger dog crate and am generous with the bedding.

If that is a Bantam, the chicks could be very small, so you would need to be sure there are no gaps low enough that a chick might get out of the cage. Some cardboard (like from cereal boxes) lining the bottom 4 inches of the mesh would do the job.

Thanks for you insights!

That is a Bramah (barnyard mix but mostly Bramah). She has been sitting in the regular nestbox for several weeks now, all attempts to move her have failed.  She just waits us out then goes back to sitting.

A few days ago I put 12 hatching eggs under her and put her in this little pen.
The fabric stays like that, I do not cover her more than that.

If I'm reading you right I should put her and her nest back in the original nestbox (her nest is in a pan, I would just transfer the whole thing.)and only put it/her in the broody box later (day 18?)

Thanks!

Tom Kozak wrote: If I'm reading you right I should put her and her nest back in the original nestbox (her nest is in a pan, I would just transfer the whole thing.)and only put it/her in the broody box later (day 18?)

If she's stuck to that nest and you don't mind having to clean up poop, I would leave her right where she is. Messing with her now might upset her.

Good luck to both of you.

The setup seems problematic to me in that it seems raised above the floor of the cage--when the chicks hatch, they're liable to fall out. Also walk right through the open spaces in that cage. Chicks can fly a few feet within a week or two of hatching. We lost two or three a few years ago when they walked through the field fence of the chicken run, their mothers couldn't pursue them but a dog could and did. So I put a 18" tall strip of one-inch-mesh chickenwire all around the bottom of the run, and there have been no more chick escapes. It also helps keep snakes out, but not entirely. We have an enclosure within our coop we call chickland, fenced off from the rest with hardware cloth so nobody is laying eggs in a nest with half-gestated eggs, or bothering the hen. It has an opening to the outside which makes it more convenient for changing the water and adding feed. When the chicks are about a week old we start letting them out. Chickland is low and pretty dark.

Another way to set a hen is to move her to your brooding spot and put one egg under her initially, then if she settles on it and continues to brood, in a day or so you add 12 or 10 or whatever you want her to set on.
Also it is good to make the nest area fairly dark. And allowing the hen to get off the nest, even taking her off once a day to eat, drink and poop is vital. It's OK not to for a couple of days but after that she will poo on her nest and ruin the eggs by so doing. I learned this the hard way!
Also it does seem to help if you can give a broody hen and new mom a place away from the rest of the flock for a while. I kept mine separated till the chicks were teenagers then put the whole group back in with the flock at night.