Will a broody hen raise chicks?

[kynewbchickie]

I've got two broody OEGB hens that are setting a nest of 10-12 eggs (buddy-system) that REFUSE to allow me to candle them. I get eat to pieces if I try. They're due in about a week to hatch. Will my roo be a problem for the chicks? I'm making a ramp for their coop so the chicks will have an easier time getting in/out of the coop with the moms once they hatch and start moving around, it helps that it's only 1' off the ground and in an enclosed pasture, so at least the ramp won't have a steep grade to it. I'm just wondering what I'll need to do with the roo if he's going to present a problem - I'm assuming moms defend the little ones against the roo if he acts ugly - am I right?

 

[LauraD21]

How long do you need to let the hen be broody, sitting on eggs, before you slip babies under her?? Is a week long enough? I have access to 3 day old chicks now but she's o Lu been sitting about a week.

 

[kamuelamom]

I have my broody who has fostered 3 store bought chicks for the last 5 weeks. I had them separated from the rest of the flock. Since this was my first experience I didn't really know what was best. Now that they are getting big, I'd like to put them in a separate pen and return mama to the flock. When and how is the best way to do this? Because I usually feed the chicks/pullets starter until 18 weeks, I usually keep them separated.

Please help! Thank you.

 

[LoveMyQHorse]

Ok, I've had my RIRs a couple years now, along with an adopted rooster, who wandered into the area. So my eggs are fertilized, but I haven't had a broody hen, so no chicks!! .....just this summer, one of my hens went super broody, but for some reason, two seperate groups of eggs didn't hatch. Today, i picked up 3 little chicks and slipped them under her. Call me crazy but she looks so proud and happy. The poor girl really wanted to be a mommy. From what i've read and discussed with others, these are the key tips: slip the chicks under hen at night, create a seperate/safe space for hen and chicks - but near the herd they'll join, then, at 2 months, the chicks should be added to herd. At 2 months, they aren't too young - won't fight to dominate, and not too old, where there might be more fighting. I'll re-post as things progress!! Just checked with flashlight and mom has the chicks all tucked away....so far, so good!

 

[HEChicken]

Ok, I've had my RIRs a couple years now, along with an adopted rooster, who wandered into the area. So my eggs are fertilized, but I haven't had a broody hen, so no chicks!! .....just this summer, one of my hens went super broody, but for some reason, two seperate groups of eggs didn't hatch. Today, i picked up 3 little chicks and slipped them under her. Call me crazy but she looks so proud and happy. The poor girl really wanted to be a mommy. From what i've read and discussed with others, these are the key tips: slip the chicks under hen at night, create a seperate/safe space for hen and chicks - but near the herd they'll join, then, at 2 months, the chicks should be added to herd. At 2 months, they aren't too young - won't fight to dominate, and not too old, where there might be more fighting. I'll re-post as things progress!! Just checked with flashlight and mom has the chicks all tucked away....so far, so good!

I don't wait two months. I have had the best success segregating the hen with her new chicks for the first few days. This allows for the hen to get to know her chicks and for the chicks to know which hen is their mother. They learn to listen to her when she tells them where to find food and water, and when to run under her for protection from danger. But after the first few days I let them back out into the flock and I've never had any issues with doing that. This way the chicks are part of the flock from the beginning and I don't have any integration issues with adding them in at an older age. They stay with Mama hen as long as she'll care for them and when she's ready to turn them loose, they already know their way around the coop and yard, where to find food/water, and how to get up on the roosts at night.

 

[donrae]

IMO 2 months is going to be a bad age to try to introduce chicks to the flock. Momma will not be protective of them and they'll be fair game for the older birds to pick on. I've lost chicks this age trying to put them in with older girls. I also raise my chicks in the flock and they (overall) do well. The roosters are protective, momma butt-kicks anyone who messes with the babies, and they grow up learning good flock manners.

 

[AmericanMom]

I don't wait two months. I have had the best success segregating the hen with her new chicks for the first few days. This allows for the hen to get to know her chicks and for the chicks to know which hen is their mother. They learn to listen to her when she tells them where to find food and water, and when to run under her for protection from danger. But after the first few days I let them back out into the flock and I've never had any issues with doing that. This way the chicks are part of the flock from the beginning and I don't have any integration issues with adding them in at an older age. They stay with Mama hen as long as she'll care for them and when she's ready to turn them loose, they already know their way around the coop and yard, where to find food/water, and how to get up on the roosts at night.

X2.. I did the same, and when Momma hen quit being a momma at 7 weeks the babies were already part of the flock and we have had no issues, our roo even finds food for them from time to time, of course they are at the bottom of the totum pole, but thats natural and I try not to mess to much with natural..

 

[LoveMyQHorse]

Thanks for all the input - it really is challenging to figure out best approach. My broody hen is taking very good care of her 3 adopted chicks and i have them on medicated food, so that is also part of the reason I have them seperated from the herd, sort of. By sort of, i mean i have them in 5x5x2 wired enclosure in the middle of the very large 40x40 feet (and 6 foot tall) chicken run, so the hen/chicks are segregated but all the other hens and roo hang right around them. Since I'm feeding the chicks medicated feed, I realize that i need to throw away the eggs from the momma hen, because she's also eating the same stuff. I guess i'm avoiding putting them all together because i want to have some edible eggs.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
That sounds like a fine arrangement to have them together but segregated. The mama hen probably won't lay eggs while she is raising her babies. What I sometimes do to allow chicks to eat chick feed without feeding it to everyone, is take a little run I have that is constructed of 1x2's and chicken wire, and is a 2x4' rectangle, and place it up on bricks. It raises it just a few inches, so the chicks can run under it, but the larger birds can't. Then I place a feeder in the middle of it and the chicks run under and eat whenever they want to. My main feeder in the coop is filled with the feed the adult birds can eat: Layer feed. This arrangement also allows the chicks to eat without being crowded out by the older birds.

 

[prairiepearls]

Thanks for this thread! I slipped 2 feed store chicks under my 3-weeks-broody hen 5 days ago, and they're doing great -- in a small cage inside the coop. This is just what I needed to know they'll be fine once I open their little cage and let the new little family mix with the other 3 older hens. Thanks again!