Broody hatching eggs, what next.

[Rick589]

We have a BO hen that has taken to setting three eggs, all three appear viable as of the last candling. She is setting in a nest box which is elevated off the floor of the coop by about 10” or so, and the coop itself is elevated above ground level by about two feet. We have three other hens and one rooster. My questions are: What next? What should we do, given the coop arrangement, with these new chicks? Should we treat them like we have hatchery bought chicks and remove them to a brooder or allow the hen to be the mother? If we remove them will that damage the mother instinct of the hen?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It all depends on the hen. If she's a good mom she will look after them, but you may want to set her up somewhere by herself for a bit after they hatch. If she's not a good mom and starts to attack them you should pull them and raise them yourself.

 

[Rick589]

It all depends on the hen. If she's a good mom she will look after them, but you may want to set her up somewhere by herself for a bit after they hatch. If she's not a good mom and starts to attack them you should pull them and raise them yourself.

Thank You for replying. How would you factor the coop into the decision? It can't be divided off and the chicks would be housed with the other hens and rooster, plus access to the nest box would be difficult if not impossible for them.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thank You for replying. How would you factor the coop into the decision? It can't be divided off and the chicks would be housed with the other hens and rooster, plus access to the nest box would be difficult if not impossible for them.

With your smaller coop I would wait and see how it plays out. It may be hard to give them feed and water that first week as the others may eat it all and scatter it. It's always best to separate them for that first week after hatching to give them a chance to bond, and to make sure the chicks are strong enough to get away from the other hens who may try to kill them. Every situation is different.

You can pull the chicks or you can pull the chicks with the hen for a bit. Just depends on the hen and what you have room for. Hopefully you have better luck than some of my hatches lately which have been a lot of little roos running around.

 

[Rick589]

With your smaller coop I would wait and see how it plays out. It may be hard to give them feed and water that first week as the others may eat it all and scatter it. It's always best to separate them for that first week after hatching to give them a chance to bond, and to make sure the chicks are strong enough to get away from the other hens who may try to kill them. Every situation is different.

You can pull the chicks or you can pull the chicks with the hen for a bit. Just depends on the hen and what you have room for. Hopefully you have better luck than some of my hatches lately which have been a lot of little roos running around.

My first thought was to place the hen and chicks in the brooder to separate them but that also seemed a bit cruel for the hen. Brooder is fairly large and expandable but still.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My first thought was to place the hen and chicks in the brooder to separate them but that also seemed a bit cruel for the hen. Brooder is fairly large and expandable but still.

The hen shouldn't care as long as she's with her chicks.

 

[Finnie]

The hen shouldn't care as long as she's with her chicks.

I agree. In my opinion, you need to separate her and the eggs before they hatch. I have tried to let hens hatch chicks without separating them from the flock, but as each chick hatched, it wandered away from the mother, who was still sitting on eggs, and the other hens killed the first 3 chicks. (That’s when I noticed and made a barrier to separate her.)

If you have a brooder that can fit the hen, then I would suggest moving her into that ASAP. Hopefully it won’t interfere with her brooding. Then the chicks will be safe from the get go. It should only take a few days for the chicks to bond with the hen and learn to obey her when she calls them to come back to her. At that point it should be safe to let her back into the flock. (Assuming there is enough room for the other birds to avoid her and the chicks when she starts to wallop them for getting too close.)

One other thing: the chicks might not be able to jump the two feet to get into the coop at first. Is there an area where they can be safe at ground level? I suppose you could try to keep them in the brooder longer, until they can jump. You will have to make a judgement call on this.