I posted a thread last spring regarding my 1st go around with my broody mama's. It was suggested then, by some of you, to write it up as an article. I told myself... "well maybe next time I have a broody and have the opportunity to apply my lessons learned and all the great advice I received here on BYC, I'll take the time to write one."
Well, here I am typing away... with my latest broody mama hopefully hatching 7 eggs as I type.
My 1st go around with two broody hens I made some serious rookie errors. Now I realize some people have done some of what I consider "mistakes" and it works fine for them. All I can do is speak to my experience with my girls. I have big Buff Brahmas. They are pets and treated as such. Pending predator pressure they do free range quite a bit and we always keep at least one rooster on 20 hens. though recently, about 3 weeks ago, a fox moved in and took 4 hens and my rooster in 3 days. Just awful.
This has changed how much we free range and also encouraged us to get started on a new 36x16 fully roofed and wrapped safe enclosure. Our 8x16 coop/small barn sits in the middle of the enclosure. We also have an additional 16x6 safe run I can use independently if needed or it can be opened to the general population enclosure and coop. I mention my setup briefly, as it absolutely matters if you plan on allowing a broody to raise some babies! They are fearless and ruthless with the flock those first couple weeks. At least mine were and everyone needed space or they needed their own locked up place.
My 1st go around mistakes:
1. THIS IS IN ALL CAPS FOR A REASON>>>>> ALLOWING TWO BROODY HENS TO HATCH AT THE SAME TIME WAS A NIGHTMARE!.
I allowed two girls to sit and hatch their clutches about a day apart. Keep in mind I had no bullying or hen conflict prior to this, my rooster was a very good boy and didn't allow it. Also, Brahmas aren't the most aggressive energetic chickens, lol. I read how adorable some mamas are with each other and share their responsibilities raising chicks together... rainbows and unicorns. Well, not for me! It was straight up WWE full blown bloody fights for two weeks. The 1st time I let them out, about 4 days after the last chicks hatched, I opened their adjacent kennels (more to come on the kennel debacle) and expected a bit of tussling, but I got the worst fight I have ever witnessed. I had to physically separate them as they wouldn't stop and both were bleeding. Rooster fights got nothing on these mamas! This lead to musical runs, musical kennels and musical feed & water dishes for about two - three weeks. Now I was fortunate as I could just let them out to free range much of the day. Getting everyone in and separated in the evening was a nightmare and my rooster was Godsend. The full out brutality stopped when the chicks were around 3 weeks. At that point there would be some tussling and the rooster and I would have to referee a bit, but they would come in and settle in adjacent corners of the coop after a brief dust up. This stopped around the time the chicks were 5 weeks. The mamas never allowed the chicks to play, inner mingle, nor did they like the other brood any where near them. They would chase and peck the other's chicks. Thank goodness for my setup and SPACE. Remember my coop is more of a small barn/shed - 8x16. By 6 weeks both mamas weaned them. Which btw, if you haven't witnessed, can be pretty sad to watch from a human mama's perspective, lol. After weaned all the chicks became their own tribe and still are 3 months later.
2. Allowing Them to Brood In The Flock Nesting Boxes WITH THE CLUTCH I WANTED HATCHED.
I know some of you are reading this thinking, "well, duh". Again, some people have success with this, for me it was, "nope" again. First thing, my chickens are big girls and though their nesting boxes are large enough to accommodate them and I have 8 boxes for 20 hens (should be plenty), they were some egg smashing banshees. I was so worried about them breaking broody I didn't want to move them. This lead to my 3rd mistake, which was really two mistakes I'll wrap up in one.>>>>>>
3. Staggered Hatch and Mismarked Eggs
I will try to keep this short. I remember looking up a "staggered hatch" using all sorts of different verbiage just to find the correct terminology so I could figure out how to manage it after I realized I had made some mistakes. I let them both sit willy-nilly and didn't mark my eggs from the beginning, not knowing every hen in that house wanted to lay in those two boxes. I swear just to piss off those two mamas. Then I realized after 4-5 days how often these two mamas would just pick and move to a different clutch of eggs in a new box. So now I'm 5 days in, they start shifting boxes and I don't have marked eggs. This on top of the egg smashing (lost 3 or 4 as far as I could figure) due to the other hens being nosey. What do I do? I learn to candle eggs really well, lol. So my brilliant idea was to candle the best I could, leave some eggs with the mamas and bring some up to the house and incubate. Needless to say I ended up with one heck of a "staggered hatch". Both those hens had chicks hatch 3-4 days apart in their clutches. Which thank goodness, they were champs and very patient. They did not abandon a good egg while dealing with 3 day old chick(s) climbing all over them.
4. I Let Them Hatch In The Nesting Boxes
Again, I know some people who have zero issues with this and honestly if the hatches weren't so staggered then maybe it would have gone better. I ended up attaching small kennels to the front of the nesting boxes which was an engineering debacle. My husband looked at my creation, smiled, shook his head and walked away, LOL! Whatever, it worked. In essence the small kennels extended the nesting boxes outward for a few days creating space for water and feed with out the worry of them falling out as mama was still sitting on eggs. They also served as a boundary, nothing in, nothing out. Then after a few days I moved each kennel down to the floor and put each mama in one with her chicks. One hen still had two eggs! A few days later is when I had to figure out more options with large spaces/kennels etc. to manage the fighting. I was one exhausted mama myself!
My girls were so patient with me, but I think I earn that, on a daily basis, from all my animals. We were all rookies together, those two birds and me. At one point around week 3 I had a cat attack (not my cat) one of the mamas and her brood while they were free ranging. It was a nightmare, but I suppose that's for a different article. We got through the attack somewhat scathed, but alive. I will mention she fought that cat until my rooster could get there and had some pretty serious wounds. I left her chicks with her while I cared for her wounds. This complicated things (cleanliness, medication etc.) but after watching "mama hens" I knew in my heart the worst thing I could do was to separate her from those babies. I made the right decision there!
So this time... I let ONE HEN stay broody. She went broody right around the time we lost our rooster and 4 hens to the fox. Which obviously was a blessing, we had some fertilized eggs from him and a broody hen. I did let her stay in the nesting box, but the eggs I wanted her to hatch sat safely in my incubator in my kitchen. I just took whatever eggs she had each day and gave her a couple more from another box. This way I knew all the eggs going up to the house to eat were freshly rotated and it kept her happy. I didn't care if she moved boxes, etc. I also was not afraid of breaking her broodiness this time so taking eggs from her and giving her new ones each evening was fine. She wasn't thrilled and it required gloves at times, but it worked out and I didn't have to manage eggs too. I moved her to the coop floor and into a broody large kennel on day 17 (1 day before lockdown in the incubator) and then brought her the eggs. ONE MOVE simple move. The babies started hatching yesterday evening. She is content, safe and they have plenty of space for a couple weeks, if need be. I will see in about a week if she has any interest in taking the chicks outside and if so I'll see how it goes. I don't have a mature rooster this time around and he was amazing to watch deal with the mamas and the chicks. This will be uncharted territory for us yet again... how well will she integrate those chicks without a flock leader? If she is a dominant hen she will be fine, if not she and the chicks may have to stay in their own space for a little longer.
Hope this helps someone navigating the broody hen territory. I will add this to conclude, hen raised chicks feather out quickly and are strong and healthy. The chicks aren't near as close to me as when I raise them, but over time I've learned how to gain their trust. It is an absolute joy if you ever have the chance, to watch a mother hen raise her babies!
