How I dealt with 3 broodies

[Jojosine]

I had 2 hens sitting on nests (planned) at the same time.
Then another hen went missing and we thought she may be sitting on a nest too somewhere we couldn't find her (we are very remote and they can go anywhere).

When the first 2 broodies hatched their eggs 2 weeks ago, the missing one also reappeared with 7 chicks, which was unplanned.
So, now we have a total of 13 chicks by 3 mothers.

I tried to find out how best to deal with this, but it was generally not advised to have more than 2 broodies, so we had to come up with a solution.
They are now in one large outdoor run, each with their own coop and their own area. The areas are separated by wire mesh, so they can see each other, but can't hurt each other. The mummys sometimes have a stand off with the fencing in between, but they give up quickly as they cannot get to each other.
Only problem we now have is that the chicks want to explore and start to fly around too, so get stuck in corners etc.

Anyway, if anyone else is having to deal with 3 mothers and chicks at the same time, here is a short video I made to explain what I did:

 

[BDutch]

I had a comparable situation a year after I started keeping chickens.
Two mamas with 6 chicks where in the coop/run combination and one mama was in the larger run with 2 chicks in a temporary coop. See don’t touch. These 2 chicks were about 5-6 days younger.

After about a week I opened up the two separated domains and watched what happened. No trouble. All went well and I didn’t need to close the ‘gate’.

 

[Jojosine]

@BDutch
That sounds like a good plan:

Were the chicks about 1 week old when you let them together?
All of mine are 2 weeks old now.

How big was the area where they got in together?

And did they still sleep in their own coop at night?

Was the area covered so that no predators could get in?

(ik ben ook uit Nederland, maar woon al 17 jaar in Schotland)

 

[BDutch]

@BDutch
That sounds like a good plan:

Were the chicks about 1 week old when you let them together?
All of mine are 2 weeks old now.

The oldest chicks were almost 2 weeks, the younger a week.

How big was the area where they got in together?

The run was 9 m2 at that time. The coop/covered run area almost 3 m2. I’m talking of small bantams (average 600 grams)

And did they still sleep in their own coop at night?

Yes the first week or so. One day the mama with 2 decided to join the others in the coop/nestbox.

Was the area covered so that no predators could get in?

The larger run was covered with very strong netting (for birds of prey) . I thought it was safe. But after a few weeks a rat came in , biting through the netting at 40 cm of the ground. Underneath was hwc. 40 cm was not enough to keep the rat out. He killed 2 chicks.

(ik ben ook uit Nederland, maar woon al 17 jaar in Schotland)

Leuk!

 

[Jojosine]

@BDutch
That sounds like a good plan:

Were the chicks about 1 week old when you let them together?
All of mine are 2 weeks old now.

How big was the area where they got in together?

And did they still sleep in their own coop at night?

Was the area covered so that no predators could get in?

(ik ben ook uit Nederland, maar woon al 17 jaar in Schotland)

The oldest chicks were almost 2 weeks, the younger a week.

The run was 9 m2 at that time. The coop/covered run area almost 3 m2. I’m talking of small bantams (average 600 grams)

Yes the first week or so. One day the mama with 2 decided to join the others in the coop/nestbox.

The larger run was covered with very strong netting (for birds of prey) . I thought it was safe. But after a few weeks a rat came in , biting through the netting at 40 cm of the ground. Underneath was hwc. 40 cm was not enough to keep the rat out. He killed 2 chicks.

Leuk!

Thanks for your advice. We've 'build' an outdoor run where all three mums can go and scratch. There were a few fights at first, mainly because one of the mum is very aggressive and just attacked the others (but not the chicks). My hubby behaved like a cockerel and separated the fighting mums and also gave a quick tap on their heads, just like cockerels break up fights. This helped and all of them now know that the aggresive one is the boss.
They all seem happy to have a larger area to run around in.
Thankfully we don't have rats (honestly!), but there is netting covering it all to protect from buzzards, kestrels and cats.

 

[BDutch]

Sounds great! Good luck with the chicks and let the force be with you=translated: may the pullets outnumber the cockerels!