2 Broody Hens in the same box

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Almost 3 weeks ago, I had one hen go broody in a box back in a corner of the coop I can't easily get to. A few days later, another hen went broody and sat down in the box with her. The box is plenty big enough for the both of them because I used the coop differently originally.

I was on the road a lot so by the time I figured out that both girls were serious about being broody, they had both been camped out on a bunch of eggs for a week. At that point, I figured I had 2 weeks to come up with a solution, so now here I sit at D-Day without a good plan and chicks starting to hatch.

My concern was that once the first eggs started to hatch, the 2nd hen might kill the chicks to protect her own and as hers started hatching, hen #1 might do the same. As it turns out, 3 chicks have hatched and when I reach in, both hens peck me. I picked up one chick and when I set it back down it went up right in between the two hens sitting side by side.

Now, I want to move them and the chicks to a coop by themselves. Can I put both hens and their eggs/chicks in a coop together? Will there be problems between the hens and their broods? Or, do i need to separate them?

 

[Pele]

Congrats on your successful hatch .

To be honest, the answer to your question is entirely dependant on your hens. Some hens are completely ok with co-brooding, some viciously defend their chicks, and some are so co-dependant that they never brood without the other hen.

If the hens let the little chick back under them without a fuss, I'd say they're co-brooding pretty smoothly. It could be that at this point they can't even tell the difference between which chicks belong to who. Do the coop move, but keep an eye out, and remove the chicks at the first sign of any injury.

 

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Thanks! It was an unusual situation and I wasn't expecting these two to go broody. They're year-olds, but they're the only ones out of that flock to go broody. The irony (and other potential problem) is that one is a silkie mix and bantam-sized. The other is a Welsummer. Several other chickens apparently laid eggs around them, because there are more eggs than when they started. I'm going to let them set out what they will and put what's left in the incubator to see if I get a couple of stragglers.

I'll try them together in a coop and see how that works.

Thanks again!