2 hens with chicks??......Questions

[bragan]

We have a flock of 12 Barred Rocks, 2 roos & 10 hens. Our very 1st broody successfully hatched 4 chicks (unfortunately, 1 didn't make it) a week & a half ago. We moved her & her eggs to their own smaller pen & shelter that my hubby built for them.
Our second broody is setting & her 1st chick is in the process of hatching right now!

She is still in the coop with the flock because I wasn't sure about putting the 2 girls together as I have heard sometimes hens will hurt other hens chicks. Now it's time that we have to make a decision as to what to do with her!

I am worried about leaving her with chicks with the rest of the flock. I'm now thinking if I moved her her pip & eggs in with the other mama & chicks tonight all the chicks chances would be better with only 1 other hen to worry about.
Anyone have any thoughts, advise, or past experiences to share???

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are living animals. No one can tell you with certainty what will happen. We can relate our experiences and tell you what might happen.

I'll start by saying I think how much room you have is very important. The more room they have the less likely you are to have any problems.

I've got lots of room and I let my broodies hatch and raise their chicks with the flock. I don't have problems. Most broodies have such a bad attitude that the other chickens quickly learn to leave the chicks alone as long as they are around Mama. It's when they get isolated from Mama that you might have problems. Not all broodies are that protective, but most are. Most hens will not go out of their way to harm a chick anyway. If the chick wanders into their area, they will probably peck at it, but as long as the chick can get back to Mama, things are fine. Occasionally you do get a brutal hen that will go after chicks. That's when Mama has to assert herself, and most will.

I have never had a dominant rooster try to hurt a chick. Several times I've seen a dominant rooster go protect the chicks when they get separated from Mama. Non-dominant roosters are more like the hens. They might go after the chicks, but probably not unless the chick wanders unprotected into its area.

Several times I’ve seen chicks as young as 2 weeks old leave Mama’s protection and go stand next to the big girls at the feeder. Occasionally the hens leave the chick alone, but usually before long one hen will peck the chick to remind it that it is bad chicken etiquette for that chick to be eating with its social betters. That chick runs back to Mama as fast as its little legs can carry it, peeping and with wings flapping. Mama ignores this unless the hen starts to follow the chick. Then Mama gets a really bad attitude.

Many people have two different broodies with chicks in the flock at the same time. Quite often, the broodies bond with their own chicks and the broodies leave each other’s chicks alone. Sometimes, and especially if the chicks are about the same age, the two broodies will work together to raise the chicks. Some people even have two broodies hatch in the same nest and it works out. But sometimes a broody will kill the chicks that are under the other hen, whether on the nest hatching or out roaming around. Sometimes the two broodies will fight to see which one gets to raise all the chicks, even if there is quite an age difference in the chicks.

I can’t tell you which way to go or what will happen in your specific case with your specific hens. I’d probably try to keep the two broodies with their chicks separated for a few days, but with my set-up and space, I’d soon try them raising their chicks with the flock.

Usually two broodies in the flock works out pretty well, but they are living animals. I can’t tell you what will happen with your specific hens and situation.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

x2. If you have enough space they are likely to be fine, depending on their personalities. Right now I have 2 hens sharing the same nest. This is the second time they've done this. The last time they shared the eggs and chicks. This time looks to be the same. One gets off the nest to take a break and the other rolls the left eggs under herself. When the one taking a break comes back, she takes some of the eggs from under The other hen and goes about her business. The process starts all over again when the other hen goes for her break. Anyway, both of these hens chose to sit together so I'm not sure how just putting two broodies together would work out. Your hen has been sitting on her clutch along with the flock- chances are, if they were going to bother her they'd have done it already. If it were me, I'd leave the one hen to hatch her chicks with the flock and the other to handle her business in her separate cage. But I have no idea what your set up is like. Good luck!

 

[bragan]

Thanks for the ideas. We left her with her eggs in the coop. We found one dead chick in the nest this morning and removed it. This afternoon she was out of her box and had a chick hatched in the box and almost dry and another working its way out of its egg..............problem is, she wants absolutely nothing to do with the babies!! She would not get back on the nest...........when we tried to encourage her with the baby she started pecking it! We removed to babies and have them inside under a heat lamp and she immediately got back on the rest of the eggs and is back to protecting the eggs like crazy. I was so excited about having more chicks hatch and now I'm so confused that she doesn't want anything to do with her chicks and am thinking maybe we should just take the babies as they hatch (we don't have an incubator) and raise them separately. My other hen is an excellent mama, but I'm pretty sure with 2 weeks age difference we would not be able to slip more babies under her and it ever work out. :/

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm sorry to hear this. Broodies do what they do by instinct. They practically always get it right, but occasionally you have one with her wires crossed.

I personally would not risk trying to give them to the other broody. It might work out but I think the risks are just too high.

 

[chickenlover89]

I'm sorry to hear this. Broodies do what they do by instinct. They practically always get it right, but occasionally you have one with her wires crossed.
I personally would not risk trying to give them to the other broody. It might work out but I think the risks are just too high.

x2

 

[bragan]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Just as an update....... Unfortunately, we had 3 babies hatch during the night & that crazy hen pecked them to death & shoved them out of the nest!!! Yet she continued to viciously protect the unhatched eggs! I don't know what we're going to do with her.......except that we cannot let her set eggs again! There were 4 eggs left, so we went out & bought an incubator today and have the remaining eggs in there. One of them is rocking around & peeping like crazy! I had wanted to let the hens raise all of our babies.................but something's wrong in that birds head! At least I know that I have proven good mama hen.