Broody hen and one that just hatched chicks

[101ferrets]

We have been raising chickens for over 8 years and rarely have a broody hen. Last year one went broody and hatched out 3 chicks and none of them survived. Our coop is not an ideal setup for baby chicks.

This year we had one for broody so we moved her and the eggs to our small chicken tractor. She now has 2 babies that are only one week old. Right after we moved her out of the coop we had a second hen go broody and is now about a week away from hatching. I am very concerned about her hatching them out in the coop as they likely will not survive.

I would like to put her in the chicken tractor with the other momma and babies but I am not sure if that is advisable. I can't seem to find any information on this scenario. What should we do?

 

[bobbi-j]

If it were my hen, I wouldn’t move her this late. Pictures of your setup would help us to help you maybe find a way to make it work where she is.

ETA - I would also work on integrating current Momma and babies into the flock after another week or so. It just works out so much better when she’s still in protective broody mode than after she’s weaned them.

 

[101ferrets]

Here is the coop and the chicken tractor. The nest box the broody is in is kind of high off the ground and the gaps in the chain link fence are too large the baby chicks can escape.

 

[101ferrets]

 

[101ferrets]

If it were my hen, I wouldn’t move her this late. Pictures of your setup would help us to help you maybe find a way to make it work where she is.

ETA - I would also work on integrating current Momma and babies into the flock after another week or so. It just works out so much better when she’s still in protective broody mode than after she’s weaned them.

Thank you for the reply. I posted pictures of our setup.

 

[bobbi-j]

What happened to the first brood that hatched in the coop? Is there any way to separate the hen from the rest of the chickens for a bit?

 

[101ferrets]

What happened to the first brood that hatched in the coop? Is there any way to separate the hen from the rest of the chickens for a bit?

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We are not 100 percent sure what happened to the chicks last year. We had to go out of town the day after they hatched and when we came back the next afternoon all 3 chicks were gone.

The only other place we have for the broody hen is in the chicken tractor with the momma and week old chicks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do you actually want the 2nd bird to hatch chicks? You could just break her of her broodiness if you don't, or this is simply a bad time for it.

 

[bobbi-j]

I’m thinking the momma with the babies could go after the younger chicks if they’re all in the tractor together. It might be helpful to integrate them before the second batch hatches, and move the second clutch right after they hatch.

 

[Mrs. K]

Put mamma and chicks in with the flock. People tend to want to wait until the chicks get bigger, but it really works better to put them in when the chicks are dried off and active, a week or two old. The mamma will take good care of them.

I would also be Leary of moving the new broody hen, but I would watch carefully, and when she has hatched, you might put them in the broody camp for a few days.

Mrs k