Raising chicks with their mother?

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Swiss-hens

Swiss-hens

Hatching
Apr 21, 2015
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Hi - I'm new to this site but it seems a good source of expertise. So, a challenge for the experts. Has anyone gone down the method of mother nature and allowed their hens to incubate and raise their chicks? I read so much about incubators, brooders etc. Why not let the Mum do the work? I've left my 2 broody hens on their eggs for a while now and if anything is going to happen it will be soon. Several questions: The nesting box they are in (and seem never to leave) is getting really dirty. If I move them and their eggs carefully will I harm my chances of hatching chicks? When/if they do hatch why not leave them with their mothers for warmth and just make sure they have the appropriate food and water accessible? I only have one cockerel and 2 hens and lots of space so I'm hoping to add 2 or 3 more to the group. Oh, and by the way, I'm British and based in Switzerland so excuse any differences in spelling and vocabulary.
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! Letting Mother hen raise the chicks is the most natural way to hatch chicks. She does all the work for you. I don't have a broody but I'm hoping one will go broody at some point. I incubate and brood the chicks myself. I personally wouldn't move them I wouldn't want to risk them abandoning the eggs especially if they are close to hatch. Here is an article on broody hens I have found it most helpful > https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/guide-to-letting-broody-hens-hatch-and-raise-chicks

Good luck and enjoy BYC :frow
 
I've moved eggs without issues, but it's always a risk.

Compared to the whole incubator and brooder business, I must say the broody method is so much less work. I'm now on my second batch of broody hatched chicks, for the first one we separated the chicks and broodies from the main coop, but this time we didn't bother with it, and it's been going great. The chicks are running among the grown chickens, and we haven't had any issues with hostility from the rest of the birds, but you'll have to evaluate the group dynamics in your flock yourself.

How long have your birds been sitting now? It would be good to force them out to eat, poop and drink at least once a day.
 

I only "use" broody hens and it´s the easiest way for me
hugs.gif
 
I've just gone to check on my broody hens and found one of them out of the nesting box, I think for some food or water. As soon as she saw me she panicked and returned. she had left the other hen sitting on ?? I'm beginning to wonder if they really have some eggs under them. But I'm fearful of checking and disturbing them. I think it's been around 18-20 days. I'll leave them till after the weekend and if nothing has happened I'm going to have a look.
 
I'm getting quite excited! I glanced in the nesting box and the hens had moved off the eggs. That worried me but before I could do anything they were firmly sitting back on the eggs. What I did see was some cracking in the shells. One has a small pin hole and another with a horizontal crack. So perhaps something will happen overnight! From my reading I need to make sure the chicks have water they can't drown in, special chick food and protection against predators. At the moment the hens are in quite deep straw - I assume that might not be such good floor material for the chicks so I have some fine wood shavings to use instead. Anything else I need to think about for tomorrow if I have some new arrivals?
 
I wouldn't worry about the straw as folks in olden days let the hens use what they found lol. Congrats on upcoming hatch. I have a hen setting now too. Be sure to post pics
 
I keep straw in the nest, and hemp bedding in the coop. They haven't had any problems with the bedding. For a chick safe waterer, put some rocks in a low bowl, preferably one that won't tip too easily. The idea is that they have to drink between the rocks, but if they fall asleep in the bowl, the rocks will support them. Marbles work too. For chick feed, find something with small enough particle size, and for the first 6 weeks, you probably want something with a pretty high protein content, 20-22 % should be good. 6-12 weeks you can drop it to the 18-20% range, and after that something in the 15-16% range should be good (same for layers, but before they're laying they don't need the higher calcium content, so if you want to feed the same stuff to everyone, offer free choice calcium for your layers to supplement the feed).
 
Last edited:
Last night the first little chick arrived! Luckily I was near as it managed to tumble over the barrier I thought was high enough to keep little ones safe in their Mum's nesting box and landed on the hen house floor. I've never heard so much noise. Both hens, the chick and the Cockerel were all in a tizzy and nosiest was the chick. It was all easily resolved and we've built a much higher barrier around the nesting box. It's fascinating to watch them as a "family". both Mums are sitting firmly - all fluffed up - but only one of them has a chick under their wings. the other hen is sitting on nothing but it looks exactly the same. The cockerel struts around making sure all is well but looking a bit spare. I will post a photo as soon as I can see the chick. It's firmly under Mum and I'm happy to leave it there as it's the warmest and safest place to be for now.
 

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