I also have a broody. I put mine in a wire cage, it's not important the type of wire but the bottom should be wire or something she won't try to "set" on. I use a dog kennel and take out the bottom tray. Normal feed and water for three days. No less. After 3 days let her out at night and put her on the roost. I have 21 hens that are boody's at all times of the year. Some are lousy mothers so I break them all the time. simplme

Runners, like most other laying breeds, both chicken and duck, are not known to be reliable setters. They have had the instinct bred out of them in order for them to continue to do what they were developed for: egg laying. As you've found, occasionally you'll find an individual who does set, with varying degrees of reliablity. Some may even set full term and hatch off a clutch. Their mothering instinct also has varying degrees of reliablity, but in general they are not considered the best of breeds for that. They may ignore the babies on hatch, brood for a few days and then abandon, or rarely, care for them until they're on their own. If she is one of the rare ones to pull it all off successfully, you should keep her and her offspring if that's what you're looking for, although you'll still have to be cautious with her babies as future mothers, as they won't all develop the same high degree of instinct. Having said all that, you have no control over her ability to hatch and brood successfully, although it may be lessened by disturbances from the children or others. Only time will tell what the hatch will bring. It is common and actually required for a successful hatch for the mother to be off the eggs for some time each day, especially toward the end of the term and in warm weather. Leaver her alone and hope for the best. If she's got the desire to go full term she knows what she's doing. The incubation period is 28 days, so she's got another week or so to go. Good luck.

Very odd things happening with my houses this year. I had bluebirds in one house that laid 5 eggs. For the most part I try to stay away so they don't get spooked. In this case the next time I checked there was one fledgling that I saw but he didn't seem ready to fly away yet. But when I checked 2 days later there were no babies or eggs. The nest was empty. This box was protected with the mesh on the opening. I'm hoping time just flew by and the brood hatched and fledged in my absence! Will the parents start a new brood in the same nest or should I clean the box out for them to start over? I had another box that had activity, 5 eggs layed and a week later no eggs or babies. I fear they were killed since it was an old house from last year and it did not have the protective metal mesh at the opening. I have a nest nearby with the mesh protection. I kept checking and there was no activity or eggs. Then suddenly there was one egg!! I assumed the mom would lay more. I checked for 2 days, still only one egg. The third day the egg hatched with a tiny bald with a little fuzz baby bird. I kept watching from a distance and I did not see the male or female going into the house. I skipped looking inside the box today. I wanted to stay totally away. Tomorrow I will check again. I hope the little guy is okay.... Is it unusual for a female to lay only one egg? I'm thinking that perhaps the pair that were in the other box moved to this box when a predator got their other eggs..... Thus only one last egg to lay??? The box with the one egg is about 20 feet from the empty box. Perhaps this is part of that brood? Can the mom or dad move an egg or did she just lay it in a different box?? I have another box about 100 feet from that one protected with the mesh that some sparrows have taken over. They have built a nest and hang out in front of it on the mesh opening and on top of it but no eggs for well over a month. Perhaps they are the culprits that got the 5 bluebird eggs. Very strange that they built a nest and aren't using it. I know they will build several, one as a decoy or to give the female a choice, but I don't see that they've done that unless they are planning to take over the bluebird box. I will be keeping a watch on that....

As I wrote in my post, my reference was to domestic cats, not to feral or barn cats who live their lives without being fed or receiving immunizations, deworming, external parasite prevention, and other routine veterinary care. I have precise first hand knowledge of what species my cats have killed over the past 40+ years and a good idea of how many of each because they bring their quarry home to my front porch and, being well fed, only occasionally do they eat one of their game animals. I could probably count on my fingers the number of birds my cats have killed over the past decades, and among these were a few English sparrows. I would say that on average 6 to 11 baby barn swallows have fledged from nests on our front porch and eaves of the barn each year, despite the presence of our cat(s.) The parent bird who fell victim this year is the only swallow killed by one of our cats ever, so I'd say that the survival rate is highly stacked in favor of the swallows. (Seven on average x 40 some years is a large sum of swallows that have come into being on my felines' terrain.) Toxoplasma gondii only poses a threat to developing fetuses and those with severely compromised immune systems. It is important that pregnant women avoid contact with litter boxes. Other than this caution, the risks posted on the inflammatory website you posted are highly exaggerated. As I also stated, this is a moot point since my current kitty has only perhaps another year of going outdoors and I do not intend to replace her when she is gone. We will have to agree to disagree on this point.