3 Broodys and 1 Maternity Ward

[MommaBee]

We have a great maternity ward for our broody hens to hatch in. Its a 8X6 run and there is a dog igloo in there for them to feel safe. Plenty of room.
We had a broody hatch five chicks last week and now we have 2 more broody hens. One (Black Betty) has been sitting for a week or two and the other (Loco Lola) just started in the last few days.My questions are...

1.) Would it be safe to add a Broody to the maternity ward? Would she get defensive and hurt the new chicks? Would the new momma get defensive towards the new broody and her nest? We have never had 2 broodys at the same time.

2.) Is there a chance they will raise the chicks together in this run successfully? I really do not want to build a special run for each broody.

3.) Or should we just let the new momma and her chicks return to the flock (freeing up the maternity ward)? This idea scares the life out of me but I read that people do it all the time.

Thanks and feel free to share any ideas or experiences you have had similar to this.

 

[Angiebubs]

I have recently been dealing with the same issues. I had 5 broody hens with:
one brooder area 4 x 4, 3 nestboxes, and started with 4 hens in there-ended up moving one hen out into her own cage.

When the chicks hatched with the 3 moms/chicks in the brooder area, they were fine until the chicks came off the nest, then everyone was all stressed out. I ended up moving one more hen into a wire cage, scooped up 5 chicks for her and everyone settled down.

However, the 2 broody hens and chicks I left in the brooder area have co parented in the past so I knew they were safe.

With all that said LOL what I would recommend is: getting a wire rrabbit cage 3 x 3 for the mom and chicks or else a large cat/dog kennel that she can take her chicks into.