Hens go broody when you don’t want them to… and won’t go broody when you do. 
I leave the house at zero-dark-thirty, so don't see the chickens until I get home around 5ish. Got home last night and went to feed/water and something had got in and killed 3 chicks. I can't figure out what got in, as there's 1" wire mesh surrounding the entire carport that is their home. Unless, and here's the thing, it was a rat. I have seen a big rat coming from the neighbor's garage and going into my garden, but haven't been able to catch it w/ rat traps. The thing looks like a squirrel but wrong kind of tail. At first, I was worried it could get the chicks but now, at a month old, they're pretty big. I think it managed to get one good bite in and hang on. Then, on to the next one. Must have been near daylight or it would've gotten more.
So, I moved the month-olds into the main coop with the older hens (and one has a single chick, 2 week old). They seem to have done alright, they're all out in the pen pecking around now that it's light out. Uggh, I just hate that I couldn't protect them better. But, I think, a rat could have gotten in the garage, too, so I don't have a place that would have been more secure. I'm hoping, being in the big coop, the rat will be more afraid of the big hens than hungry. D*mn thing, it's eating my garden why did it have to get chicks? (And, of course, it may not be what got them.)
So, I moved the month-olds into the main coop with the older hens (and one has a single chick, 2 week old). They seem to have done alright, they're all out in the pen pecking around now that it's light out. Uggh, I just hate that I couldn't protect them better. But, I think, a rat could have gotten in the garage, too, so I don't have a place that would have been more secure. I'm hoping, being in the big coop, the rat will be more afraid of the big hens than hungry. D*mn thing, it's eating my garden why did it have to get chicks? (And, of course, it may not be what got them.)
