How To Hatch Chicks With A Broody Hen And How To Build A Brooder Box Out Of One Piece Of Plywood

If you are trying to learn how to hatch chicks with a broody hen, you are in the right place! My first year of owning chickens I started with day-old chicks. Let me tell you it was a lot of work caring for those chicks (I don’t know how people do it who don’t work from home to be honest). Keeping poop out of the waterer, checking on chicks for pasty butt, adjusting the heat lamp, making sure they had enough food - it was constant work.

In this post I am going to teach you:

• How to encourage your hens to go broody
• What chicken breeds are the most prone to go broody
• The best place to let your broody hen hatch her chicks
• How to keep your broody hen on the nest
• The hatching options you have with a broody hen (how to latch day-old chicks and using fertilized eggs) 
• How to build a Brooder Box from one piece of plywood

Don’t get me wrong, I loved having the hands-on experience and I adore my hand-raised hens. The thing is, once I let my very first hen go broody and raise her own clutch of chicks, I realized I am never going to raise chicks myself again. Why? Because broody mama hen was one thousand percent better at it than me!

What are the benefits of letting a broody hen hatch eggs?

Hatching your own eggs in an incubator is definitely an option (click here to learn how!), but your broody hen is nature’s incubator, and one that won’t suffer technical glitches that could leave your hatch DOA.

When a hen goes broody, her fluffy bottom heats up to the absolute perfect temperature for incubating hatching eggs. The humidity that her body naturally creates and the insulation that her feathers provide are the ideal environment for properly developing fertilized eggs. Broody mama hen will also turn the eggs exactly when needed so the embryo doesn’t stick to the side of the egg (something you have to do manually with certain types of incubators).

Essentially, this environment is what incubators are mimicking. Unfortunately, once your eggs hatch in an incubator, it’s up to you to raise them. This means checking on chicks multiple times a day, watching for pasty butt, constantly replenishing feed, the list is exhaustive! So I say - when you are given the gift of a broody hen - accept it and let her hatch some fertilized eggs.

How do you encourage a hen to go broody and are certain chicken breeds more prone to go broody?

In my experience on our farm, hens typically go broody after the spring equinox. The day length is growing, the weather is warming up, and certain hens will start to feel that broody itch. 

Certain breeds are more inclined to go broody than others. Typically heritage breeds sourced from small ethical hatcheries or farms have the best chance of inheriting the broody gene. Most mega hatcheries breed the broodiness out of their blood lines.

The best breeds that anecdotally go broody are:

• Silkies
• Blue-Lace Wyandottes
• Red-Laced Wyandottes
• Orpingtons
• Cochins 

I will be the first to say that we’ve had our own random barnyard breeds (the chicks we hatch from random roosters and hens) go broody from time to time. Once a momma hen proves herself to be a broody, she will most likely go broody every year for you. 

The best way to encourage a hen that is inclined to go broody is to leave eggs in the nesting box. When a hen is just on the tipping point of broody territory, that clutch of eggs is going to be the thing that sends her over the edge. As soon as she spots a safe, secure, and quiet spot with 8-12 eggs - she’s going to hunker down and let her broody flag fly. 

So leave 8-12 eggs in a nesting box for your hens after the spring equinox and cross your fingers. Be sure to swap the eggs out every seven days and replace them with fresh eggs so you don’t have an exploding rotten egg situation on your hands (don’t ask me how I know). These eggs are called decoy eggs and they are *not* the eggs you want to hatch. That comes later.

What are the signs of a broody hen?

A hen is broody if she is hunkered down on the nest and refuses to get off. If you approach her or try to get the eggs out from under her, she will puff her feathers up and make an angry velociraptor noise that rivals Blue from Jurassic World. She may try to peck your hand and shift her weight from side to side to snuggle the eggs more tightly beneath her. 

Your freshly minted broody hen may take a few days to settle into broodiness. Don’t be alarmed if she exhibits the signs above, but gets off and on the nest at first. I recommend letting a broody hen settle in for three days before you move her.

Do I need to move a broody hen out of the coop to hatch chicks?

Speaking of moving your broody hen! The number one question I get from chicken keepers is - do I need to move my broody hen to a different spot for her to hatch chicks? 

The answer is a huge YES! You can kiss your perfect cute baby chicks goodbye if you decide to leave your hen to brood in her coop with her flock. Why? 

1. Extra eggs on the nest. Because your momma hen will get off the nest once a day to poop, eat, drink, and dust bath and nothing is stopping another hen from your flock from jumping on her nest and laying an egg with her incubating clutch. Now you have an extra egg that won’t develop at the same rate as the others and how does broody hen know the difference?
2. Broody hen forgetting her nesting spot. Momma hen will get confused about what nesting box is hers and which isn’t. She will sit on another clutch of eggs and leave your original clutch to cool off and kill the developing embryos, leaving you back at square one.
3. Broody hens are MEAN. They will peck on your other hens, push them away from the food, and even straight up attack and injure your remaining flock. Your momma hen needs her own space to feel safe and secure.

I seriously cannot shout this enough from the rooftops - you have to move your broody hen to her own space to hatch eggs.

What is the best place for a broody hen to hatch chicks?

Your broody hen needs a quiet, secure, and safe place to brood. That place needs to have the space for:

• Food
• Water
• A place to dust bathe
• A spot for her nest

This can be as simple as a separate stall in the barn with a milk crate for her to nest in, a separate chicken tractor, or a brooder box built specifically for momma hen. 

We built our own brooder box (pictured above) out of one piece of plywood and you can grab the build plans at the bottom of this post!

Have your brooder box or spot all set up and ready to go for your broody hen. That means prepping the dust bathing spot with crushed limestone + wood ash + Diatomaceous earth, putting fresh straw in her nesting area, and having food + water ready to go.

How to safely move a broody hen to a brooder box?

Okay - you’ve got your broody hen - check! She’s been consistently broody and it’s been three days - check! Now it’s time to move her to her own separate space to brood.

1. On the evening of the third day, you’ll want to get a cardboard box or milk crate that you can set the hen on to transport her from point A to point B. I save an old USPS box that is 12x12” for this very reason. In the transport box, add in some straw for mama hen to be comfy while you move her.
2. Wait until it is pitch black outside. You want your broody hen to be in zombie mode when you handle her so you don’t accidentally break her brood. When you break a brood, your hen gets so spooked that she snaps out of her broodiness. That’s why operating under the cover of darkness is so important!
3. Take your transport box filled with straw and very gently move mama hen into the box, stick the decoy eggs underneath her that she’s been sitting on too to keep her calm.
4. Then very gently bring her to her brooder box/spot. Once there, move her gently and quickly to her final nesting spot in the brooder box.
5. Place all of her decoy eggs underneath her at this point (remember you are going to swap these eggs out eventually). 

What to expect the first 24 hours after you move a broody hen? How to keep your broody hen on the nest using the Broody Box-In Method (pictured above)!

When broody hen wakes up in an entirely new space, chances are she is going to freak out. I mean - wouldn’t you? That’s why it's important to box your broody in for the first 12+ hours. This ensures that she remains calm, her broody determination stays strong, and she feels safe.

I know boxing in your hen sounds a bit harsh, but it’s a common practice in the chicken keeping community. Broody hens are known to sit on nests for up to 36 hours without eating, drinking, or pooping. 12 hours isn’t too much to ask to ensure that your hen doesn’t break her brood.

Ways you can box in your broody hen:

• Placing a cardboard box over your hen (with air holes of course!) and put a rock on top to weigh it down
• Turning the milk crate nesting box option toward a wall and setting something heavy behind it to secure it like a cylinder block or brick.
• By using the built in broody box-in feature on our DIY Brooder Box (pictured above). I love this feature on our brooder box and it has saved me hours of frustration. Sometimes a freaked out broody hen is no match for a cardboard box!

You’ll want to box your hen in immediately after you move her and then check on her the following morning after 12 hours have passed (to be clear: the countdown starts as soon as you move her). 

After 12 hours have passed is she clucking angrily or is she calm and content?

If she is clucking angrily, then let your hen get off the nest and see what her behavior is like. She may want to inspect her new spot and make sure she and her eggs are safe or … she may need to poop. Give broody hen 10 minutes to do her thing. She will most likely poop, eat, drink, dust bathe, and squawk a lot. If she hasn’t gotten back on the nest after 10 minutes have passed, then box her in again for another 12 hours. I know this sounds harsh, but your hen needs the time to calm down and get back into the “zen mode” that is broodiness. If after three box-in sessions your broody hen still has not settled down, remove her her from the brooding area and put her back with her flock for a few more days. Then try the process all over again. 

If she is calm and content, then all is well and you can let her go about her business in her new digs. No need to box her in any longer!

What are your hatching options with a broody hen?

The incubation period is 21 days. Mama hen is prepared to wait that long or longer to see chicks come out from underneath her bloomers so that gives you lots of options. I’ve tried all of the following options so I’ll share some tips for each.

Hatching your own fertilized eggs: I’ve had a ton of fun creating barnyard breeds on our farm. My rule of thumb is to gather eggs from the best hens mated to the best rooster. We keep our flocks separate and I’ve been able to identify my hen’s eggs by their color. We typically hatch out the eggs from our Olive Egger rooster to our Wyandotte hens. The results have been extremely hardy barnyard breeds. We only breed the most docile and caring roosters to our most productive and healthy hens.

At the spring equinox, begin gathering your best eggs for hatching. Only keep the cleanest and most well-formed eggs. Stay away from extra large or small sizes for hatching eggs. Obviously don’t keep cracked eggs. Hatching eggs need to be kept at room temperature and out of the sun. Have a labeled carton on hand for storing and stock eggs from left to right so you can swap out older eggs for new eggs. Keep swapping eggs for the freshest ones possible until your broody hen is ready to go after her 12 hour broody-box-in period. Once your broody hen is settled in, at night swap out the decoy eggs and place up to 12 eggs underneath her (depending on your hen’s butt size - yeah I said it).

Hatch eggs from an NPIP certified hatchery: I think it’s best to wait and order eggs once you know for sure your hen is settled into her broody box. That way the eggs will be as fresh as possible and you know your broody won’t spook. Follow the same directions as above for swapping out the decoy eggs for the hatching eggs. Remember, mama hen is willing to wait 21+ days to see chicks so it's not a big deal if she sits on decoy eggs for a few days before you swap them.  To learn why you should support small ethical hatcheries over the mega hatcheries, click here!

Latching day-old chicks onto a broody hen: This option requires proper timing. While your hen can’t do calculus, her body clock can count. She is not going to accept chicks unless 21 days have passed. I’ve successfully latched up to three clutches of chicks onto broody hens and waiting until the 21 day mark is key. 

The other crucial thing to do when latching chicks is to do it at night when it’s completely dark. Remember, broody hen is in zombie mode and is much more likely to believe her chicks hatched overnight. Be sure to swap out all the decoy eggs and replace each one with a chick. 

Then check first thing in the morning (I’m talking as soon as the sun peeks over the horizon) to make sure everything is hunky dory between mama hen and her new babies.

Signs that latching chicks is going well:

• Mama hen clucking softly to the chicks
• Mama hen is on the nest with the chicks snuggled up underneath her
• Mama is off the nest teaching the chicks how to eat and drink. 

Signs that things are not going well with latched chicks:

• Mama hen pecking the chicks 
• Mama hen pushing the chicks around
• Mama hen being off the nest trying to GTFO of this Jerry Springer Episode 

How to care for your broody hen while she sits on eggs?

I will be honest and say I am an overbearing chicken mama. I will dote on my hens and give them all kinds of attention and the same goes for my broody hens. Luckily you can simplify broody hen care down to:

Dust Bathing: Have a designated spot in the broody area for your hen. You can use a litter box pan and fill it with gravel and Diatomaceous Earth. You can also purchase our Brooder Box Build Plans that comes with a built-in dust bathing spot (pictured above!).

Food: Because broody hen is not laying eggs, I like to switch over to chick feed because the protein content is higher than layer feed and will keep mama hen well fed. It also isn't a shock to mama when the chicks arrive and suddenly there's a different kind of food for them! Always keep the feed stocked for your broody because she will only get off the nest once per day and you want food at the ready for her when she does.

Water: I use a chick waterer for broody hens while they are in our brooder box. I like to add a few drops of apple cider vinegar to help mama hen's immune system while she broods. Provide fresh water for your broody every day.

Treats: I like to give crushed hardboiled eggs and scratch grains to my broody hens to keep their weight up (broody hens naturally lose a lot of weight while they brood).  Having scratch grains readily available is a great call to keep your hen healthy.

Broody poop removal: These poops are no joke. Every chicken owner who has dealt with a broody hen knows them because you can smell them for miles. A broody hen will only poop once per day - which is a lot of poop at once considering chickens poop about 15 time per day. Be sure to clean them up immediately to keep flies away and your brooder spot clean.

Fresh Straw: I like using straw as my go to for brooder bedding because it's soft, compostable, and readily available. Chicks can have respiratory issues with pine shavings and even mistake the shavings for food when they arrive, so I like to steer clear of them. I replace fresh straw if the water accidentally gets knocked over or there was a very messy poop.

Peace and quiet! Mama hen needs to feel safe and secure. That means no flock mates distracting her, no loud noises, and a space that she can "look out" of. Mama hen wants her back, sides, and above her head to feel secure and then be able to look out straight in front of her so she knows what's coming. This is a primal need that is your responsibility to fill. It's also why our Brooder Box design has look out windows in the front, with mama hen safely secured on the remaining sides in a nesting box. 

Speaking of our Brooder Box...

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How to build a Brooder Box from one piece of plywood!

I've been through one too many flimsy cardboard boxes and over-sized dog crates as make-shift brooder boxes. I never had a durable option with everything I needed to make my broody hen feel completely safe and secure

So finally I asked my engineering husband:
​
 Could we build a brooder box from just *one* piece of plywood?

After talking through all the necessities, spending some time designing on CAD, and a trip to Menards - we built the perfect DIY Brooder Box from one piece of plywood - and you can too!

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How has the Brooder Box helped us?

• With the bulk of the building materials coming from one piece of plywood, we saved ourselves money and kept things simple. We built it in one evening!
• We've hatched out four clutches at this point and each have had an 80% hatch rate in the brooder box.
• Everything my broody hen needs is in one place, keeping her from forgetting where her eggs are and spooking her off the nest. So much less of a headache for me!

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The build plans come as a PDF and are downloadable, printable, and include all the information needed to get started:

• ​Complete materials + tools lists
• 17 pages of step-by-step instructions with detailed diagrams, drawings, and pictures. 
• A bonus section with tips and tricks we implement to make the Brooder Box work to our benefit. 

​While most of the Brooder Box can be built solo, a second set of hands will definitely make a handful of steps much easier.

The Brooder Box includes:

• Nesting box with built-in box-in option
• Dust bathing spot
• Foraging/feeding area
• Optional leg construction with 2x4s to save your low back from having to bend down!

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​Spread the Chicken Love!

About Loveland Acres Farm's Hatching Program:
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​This farm program seeks out willing teachers and families that desire to hatch out chicks so their students and children can experience the miracle of chicks firsthand. Participants are set up with an incubator, instructions, and eggs to start their own hatching experience. Upon hatch, the chicks are returned to Loveland Acres Farm to become part of next year's laying flock. This program nurtures and educates our next generation of chicken lovers!

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In my next post, learn how you can support and care for your broody hen and her new clutch of chicks. 

KEEP READING

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