Guide to Letting Broody Hens Hatch and Raise Chicks

Excellent article, enjoyable to read. I appreciate that you shared pros and cons of each method. This year I let my hen do ALL of the work, even though she separated herself from the flock, stole a nest outside of the fenced area and hatched them in a storm! She insisted on rejoining the flock with them during the first week, so I decided to again trust her judgement. She is a great mom and has even started allowing a few the Murray McMurray chicks (they are about 4 weeks older than her chicks) to roost with her as well. She keeps her babies on one side and the bigger MM chicks on the other side of her. (Maybe to add another layer of protection for her babies?)

Super helpful! First time brooder and we have just put the cat igloo / rabbit cage brooder into our large chicken run, where our flock hangs out. (We were planning to use an outdoor storage container, but it was too wide to get in the door. I think our improv brooder should do pretty well. Hopefully to get all 10 chicks to hatch in two days! (One broke at 2 weeks.)

Fantastic article! Thanks so much for this great info. Bookmarked.

Good article. I had a rooster which was killed by coyote about a month ago, lo and behold he had mated with my hens before his death. Hens were brooding and I just left them alone. Was very surprised this morning to find 5 chicks hanging out with mom. I decided to separate and raise them under heat lamp

This was the only article I read about letting my hen do all the work. Out of a dozen, I have 7 chick's 3wks old. I broke one, one fell out if the nest, chickens broke 2 and one was not viable. They were not moved and they are thriving, integrated from hatching with the flock. Thank you!

Good article! Very detailed, and I love the pictures.

Great article. Has a lot of good information.

Informative and cool

Great read

LOVE THIS! I'm new to all of this and I raised my first flock from hatchlings. I am looking forward to having a broody baby of my own so she can raise some new babies. Not sure if I would put her in the "chicken hospital" that they were all in when they were still babies, or if I will let them all stay in the big run and coop. I will just gauge the situation when it happens.

This has given me information so that we can make an informed decision when the time comes.

We have one RIR rooster and 2 RIR hens, the rest are BRs. I've heard that BRs will go broody and only sometimes, RIRs will. Do you have info on these two breeds about broody v. non-broody?

THANK YOU AGAIN! Wonderful article.

Great in depth article. I hatched 4 eggs and 3 were roosters. So my broody girls days are over. No more brooding hens for me. But it was fun.

I had a broody hen hatch another hen’s eggs in a nest box, in a coop, with the rest of my flock. This was the first time raising chickens and I wasn’t experienced and unaware. Eight chicks were hatched, two were attacked after being hatched. I was able to save seven of the chicks but one was killed. I moved them to a brooder heater, hand fed them and they survived. They are all 2 yrs old now I just wanted to warn anyone who is planning on leaving a hen to hatch chicks with the flock. This article doesn’t mention dangers when leaving the hen and chicks with the flock. And I had just assumed that the chicks would be fine with other hens.

I have had experience with all of these things happening over the years of raising chickens for eggs and getting mu own flock from my broody birds. I learned a few things just now; thank you.

Absolutely brilliant level of content, perfect for what I needed to know having one week ago put a small clutch of fertilised eggs under her because she had gone seriously broody for the third or forth time. She is a hybrid speckled hen, and has let me assist her eat berries off our wine-berry bushes on my arm.

Great information! Helping me to let my broody raise her new hatchlings!

Thanks for writing this. Great to have it all in one place.

Very much and detailed info. My first clutch and the hen began laying eggs for the last 3 days, roosting up high with the chicks (6 weeks old) and on occasion a peck at a chick. My friend, who loaned her to us, said she's ready to go back to the flock. Exact same as your article. Thank you.

Great article - I enjoyed reading about the different broody scenarios. Thanks!

I’ve been talking about this every spring. I put mom in a cat carrier or crate and lock the family in at night. She takes them out during the day and goes back in at night until the chicks can fly up into a roost

I had so many questions abouy brooding. Broody hens and how to go about alllowing my hen to brood and what to look out for to know when they're growing broody. You did a wonderful job of illterating this clearly without it being to confusing. Thank you for the pros and cons of either options and allowing us to choose what's best for our flock. I will defintely save this article for future reference!!