Do you HAVE to separate mama hen and her babies from flock?

[MontanaDolphin]

I've read that people keep mama hen and her babies separate from the rest of the flock.

Is this absolutely necessary? I ask because if one of my hens becomes broody, I would like her to hatch her eggs (I do have a rooster, so eggs will be fertile). My problem is that I do not have a separate coop to house mama and her babies if I allow her to hatch them. My coop is really not large enough to put a divider in, either...it's a coop that came with this house when we bought it in January 2013...if I remember correctly, I measured it at 4x8. I have 1 rooster and 8 hens.

Attached to the coop is a run made out of a 10x10 dog kennel. I free range from noon until dark.

So, since I don't have a separate area for a mama hen and her babies, does that mean I shouldn't let any girls hatch their eggs? Thanks

 

[veramoomoo]

yes put her in a seperate cage to hatche the eggs!!! then when a few weeks let them out together and see what happens!!!!!!

 

[my sunwolf]

It's not necessary, but it does help with a funny problem... see, the momma will get off the nest about once a day to get food and water and to poop. When she goes to get back on the nest, sometimes she will return to a different box than the one her eggs are in, therefore letting the original eggs chill. This is not true of all broodies, but it is a fairly common problem. I have also found that other hens will climb in with the broody and lay new eggs on top of her original clutch, creating problems with staggered development. You can always mark her full clutch and then gather unmarked eggs from under her daily. People have also found that the rooster or the other hens will be overly aggressive towards the new babies, and momma can't always be there to protect them. But separating a broody hen is, in the end, a matter of choice.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you HAVE to separate a broody, either while she incubates eggs or raises chicks? No you don’t HAVE to. The way chickens have been raised for thousands of years on small farms is that the hens hatched and raised the chicks with the flock, usually with extremely little help or interference from a human.

Can something go wrong if a hen hatches eggs or raises chicks with the flock? You are dealing with living animals. Of course things can go wrong. Things can go wrong if you separate them too. There are advantages and risk both ways.

The way I do it is to gather all the eggs I want a broody to hatch, mark them so I know which ones belong, and start them under the broody all at the same time. Starting them all at the same time is important. Then late in the day after all the hens have laid for the day, I check under the broody and remove any eggs that don’t belong. As long as you remove them daily they are good to use.

When the eggs hatch, I leave the broody alone and let her decide when she wants to bring the chicks off the nest. That may be one day, it may be three. I do put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it once she brings them off.

I have had that thing Heartmoss mentioned. When the broody came back from her daily constitutional another hen was on her eggs laying an egg so the broody went to another nest. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen. The last time it happened, the eggs were cold to the touch. I put the broody back on her correct nest. She hatched 11 chicks out of 11 eggs.

There’s nothing wrong with separating a broody, either or eggs or with chicks. It’s not a case of one way being right and the other wrong. It’s just whichever way we chose to do it.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I *HAVE* to seperate mine because when my old hens have bittys they turn into devil hens attacking anything that moves within 10 ft. Even my shy, timid, bottom of the pecking order hens turn into feathered Koju when they have bittys and terrorize all the other birds in the pen.
Hopefully you won't have this problem.

 

[donrae]

Do you HAVE to separate a broody, either while she incubates eggs or raises chicks? No you don’t HAVE to. The way chickens have been raised for thousands of years on small farms is that the hens hatched and raised the chicks with the flock, usually with extremely little help or interference from a human.

Can something go wrong if a hen hatches eggs or raises chicks with the flock? You are dealing with living animals. Of course things can go wrong. Things can go wrong if you separate them too. There are advantages and risk both ways.

The way I do it is to gather all the eggs I want a broody to hatch, mark them so I know which ones belong, and start them under the broody all at the same time. Starting them all at the same time is important. Then late in the day after all the hens have laid for the day, I check under the broody and remove any eggs that don’t belong. As long as you remove them daily they are good to use.

When the eggs hatch, I leave the broody alone and let her decide when she wants to bring the chicks off the nest. That may be one day, it may be three. I do put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it once she brings them off.

I have had that thing Heartmoss mentioned. When the broody came back from her daily constitutional another hen was on her eggs laying an egg so the broody went to another nest. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen. The last time it happened, the eggs were cold to the touch. I put the broody back on her correct nest. She hatched 11 chicks out of 11 eggs.

There’s nothing wrong with separating a broody, either or eggs or with chicks. It’s not a case of one way being right and the other wrong. It’s just whichever way we chose to do it.

This is pretty much what I was going to post. Thanks for typing it out for me!

 

[DuckingLost]

This is pretty much what I was going to post. Thanks for typing it out for me!

I never leave them in together. I would always have a dead chick or two (from coop mates) I've even brought hens and eggs inside my house in a dog cage. I love catching the hatch! My husband built a small run with a pet taxi for them for a while till they were bigger

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Im hatching eggs now i originally got 8 eggs one was 4 or 5 days ahead of the other. But i have 2 broodies. And another that wanted to go. So im hoping they will all take them in as their own.
Out of my small flock of 5 one started eating the eggs the meanest one, not one of the broodies. She is now seperated until someone comes and gets her to add to their flock as they just lost a bunch of theirs to a attack.
I lost 3 eggs from this.
The other 5 are still going strong at day 13.
Luckily mine have so far gone back to the nest they are suppose to but with 2 broodies as long as they return to a nest each it shouldnt hurt.
I however will be seperating mine because the ramp and coop is so high off the ground im afraid they would fall.
But im waiting for the chicks to hatch before i move them. Just incase they would stop brooding.
I have one extra coop from my ducks im going to use.

Good luck!

 

[Penpal]

I marked the eggs with a crayon. That way, any extra eggs were removed to the kitchen. As for her forgetting which nest is hers, block off the closest nests to make it easier for her. Or, if they are moveable, move the other nests to a different wall.

 

[Evadig]

Hello y’all,
just want to let you know this thread is back from 2013, so might not get an answer .