should i feed a broody hen with chicks while on the nest?

Oops, the second hen was only confused about where to lay her egg. All is well...

We've since had a successful hatch from that hen, 3 7 week olds are doing really well. They're nearly as big as their bantam mama. We did end up booting her out of the box once a day, she was stubborn and in with another hen who was also broody that I think she didn't trust. We watched her while she did her business and made sure the other hen stayed away. I was afraid she'd be a horrible mother hen, she was a bit of a ridiculous sort prior to this. She knocked it out of hte park and was excellent. The other hen? Not so much. It was obvious from early on she had no idea what she was doing, only one of her eggs developed, she didn't let the baby out from under her. She ate two of hte eggs, and the rest were bad. She also killed one of the chicks that our other hen hatched and stuck it under her. After we booted her out, all was well. We've since integrated mama and her babies into the coop with the other girls and they're doing well.

I have a second batch about to hatch (we have a pipped egg!) either today or tomorrow. We didn't move her, she wouldn't take to another box like our first hen did. She was allowed to stay in the coop in her favorite box, we just made it so the other hens couldn't get to her and took her out once a day for food, water, and a dust bath (I'm sure she also did her business). We added onto the coop by making a broody/mama pen with a generous box and little run area for after the chicks hatch. After some flustered clucking and fussing, she's transitioned fine. Since it's big enough, and she only has a day or two left, we've put food and a waterer in with her so that if any babies do hatch before we see them, she can get to food and water.

I really wanted to try hatching them in the coop with the rest of the chickens but the bigger, higher order hens kept booting her out of her box or just generally being pesty. After that I decided I didn't trust them. But, she's last year's youngest hen plus a bantam cochin on top of that, so she isn't very high up on the pecking order. We have a temporary wall in place where she can't see anyone else until after the hatch so she doesn't feel threatened. After that, we'll move it so that everyone can see each other.

Good luck with your hatch, she appears to be a very healthy broody! Doing a good job covering everyone up! Pretty hen.

Thank you for sharing your experience
I am excited to watch all this unfold! I do hope my broody does this only once a year though... I'm not breeding so I'm not in control of the quality...
Also, one question... Can eggs from another farm already be infected will ___ fill in the blank something? Jeopardizing the chick health and health of my flock?

Potentially, I suppose. I've read that certain things are passed from hen to the egg/chick. As long as you get eggs from a source your comfortable wtih, you should be ok.

I'm happy to report that we seem to have four tiny but healthy little babies in the nest with mama hen this morning.

Saggybottomgirl said:

Potentially, I suppose. I've read that certain things are passed from hen to the egg/chick. As long as you get eggs from a source your comfortable wtih, you should be ok.

I'm happy to report that we seem to have four tiny but healthy little babies in the nest with mama hen this morning.

Click to expand...

Well, would you just look at those absolutely adorable little fuzzy-butts!!!