Broody hen, chicks and eggs

[Deirdrejd]

We gave 4 chicks to a broody hen and she took them under her wing, literally. We have more chicks coming in a few days and another broody hen. We had nested some fake eggs for the other hen to sit on in a different area of the broody hen coop. But Jilly found them and immediately went to sit on them. I didn't want her abandoning her chicks so I brought her and the eggs over to the chicks. Now there are 4 eggs under her as well as the chicks.
So, would it be ok to switch the eggs out for the new chicks? They will be around 6 days younger than the other ones. We have 15 coming which is too many for our other broody hen.

 

[DobieLover]

I would get those eggs out from under her, put them back under the hen you want to have them and then somehow isolate her so that Jilly cannot get to her.
It is highly unlikely that she will take chicks that are that much younger than her current brood. Not impossible, but unlikely.
If you want the other broody hen to have a chance at raising chicks then you need to separate her so that Jilly doesn't have access to her or her future chicks for a little bit.

Until they've had time to bond. If they bond. If they don't, then you can try to graft them to Jilly. It's really all just a guessing game at this point.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We have 15 coming which is too many for our other broody hen.

Why do you consider 15 too many chicks for a broody hen? I'm not saying you are wrong, there are plenty of reasons it could be too many.

When I was a kid many decades ago we had a hen that brought 18 chicks off of a hidden nest. We never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with. I've had a couple of hens that each raised 15 chicks. I gave them some eggs to hatch and put other eggs in the incubator. I had a better hatch than expected so they got to raise more chicks than I would normally try.

These were all in the heat of summer. The hen did not have to cover all of them at night, some slept next to her or on her. If one got cold it pushed under her and pushed another chick out for a while. I'm not sure where you are so I have no idea how cold it will be in the next few weeks. In colder weather I limit how many chicks a hen has so she can cover them all.

Chicks and hens come in different sizes. A bantam hen cannot manage a lot of full-sized chicks while a full-sized fowl hen can manage a lot of bantam chicks. I typically put 12 eggs the size she normally lays under a broody but I had one hen that could only cover 10 eggs.

if you are going to have to brood some of the chicks yourself I'd probably give the one hen about ten to twelve chicks and try giving the other 3 to 5 to your broody with the older chicks. She might accept them and she might not. Pay attention when you try, you may need to brood them yourself anyway. But I think it would be worth a try.

Good luck!

 

[Deirdrejd]

I would get those eggs out from under her, put them back under the hen you want to have them and then somehow isolate her so that Jilly cannot get to her.
It is highly unlikely that she will take chicks that are that much younger than her current brood. Not impossible, but unlikely.
If you want the other broody hen to have a chance at raising chicks then you need to separate her so that Jilly doesn't have access to her or her future chicks for a little bit.

Until they've had time to bond. If they bond. If they don't, then you can try to graft them to Jilly. It's really all just a guessing game at this point.

So our chicks came early, only one day after they were born. The others are 5 days old. When the

Why do you consider 15 too many chicks for a broody hen? I'm not saying you are wrong, there are plenty of reasons it could be too many.

When I was a kid many decades ago we had a hen that brought 18 chicks off of a hidden nest. We never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with. I've had a couple of hens that each raised 15 chicks. I gave them some eggs to hatch and put other eggs in the incubator. I had a better hatch than expected so they got to raise more chicks than I would normally try.

These were all in the heat of summer. The hen did not have to cover all of them at night, some slept next to her or on her. If one got cold it pushed under her and pushed another chick out for a while. I'm not sure where you are so I have no idea how cold it will be in the next few weeks. In colder weather I limit how many chicks a hen has so she can cover them all.

Chicks and hens come in different sizes. A bantam hen cannot manage a lot of full-sized chicks while a full-sized fowl hen can manage a lot of bantam chicks. I typically put 12 eggs the size she normally lays under a broody but I had one hen that could only cover 10 eggs.

if you are going to have to brood some of the chicks yourself I'd probably give the one hen about ten to twelve chicks and try giving the other 3 to 5 to your broody with the older chicks. She might accept them and she might not. Pay attention when you try, you may need to brood them yourself anyway. But I think it would be worth a try.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for all the info. Wow! I really had no idea, so just wasn't sure what was acceptable. Thank you for sharing your experiences. That's great to hear that 15 chicks is not too many for one hen. She's an Orpington and has adopted chicks before and was a very good mama. We adopted Luna from a friend who ended up with way too many chickens for their space, so it was before my time.

We are in northern California. It got up to 92 today and looks to stay at least in the 80s for the near future. The low during the night is 56 but not till 6am.

I also wanted to make sure Jilly was ok with it all as eventually, they will all be together. When she saw the fake eggs and immediately sat on them, it just felt like she was hoping for more. And she has been sitting on them ever since. I figured that a hen's eggs wouldn't necessarily all hatch in one day anyway so it would be the same as in real life, wouldn't it?

 

[skeeeter]

Hi, good mother hens don't start setting til all her eggs are laid, causing all the chicks to hatch on the same day(all within 24hrs of each other). That way, she can get up and start helping them find food and water as soon as possible.
If your hen already has chicks, it is best to take the eggs away so she can focus on the chicks' needs.
Your other hen, the buff orp., can easily brood 2 dozen chicks.
Do, please separate your broodies.. they are antisocial to the extreme.

 

[Deirdrejd]

Why do you consider 15 too many chicks for a broody hen? I'm not saying you are wrong, there are plenty of reasons it could be too many.

When I was a kid many decades ago we had a hen that brought 18 chicks off of a hidden nest. We never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with. I've had a couple of hens that each raised 15 chicks. I gave them some eggs to hatch and put other eggs in the incubator. I had a better hatch than expected so they got to raise more chicks than I would normally try.

These were all in the heat of summer. The hen did not have to cover all of them at night, some slept next to her or on her. If one got cold it pushed under her and pushed another chick out for a while. I'm not sure where you are so I have no idea how cold it will be in the next few weeks. In colder weather I limit how many chicks a hen has so she can cover them all.

Chicks and hens come in different sizes. A bantam hen cannot manage a lot of full-sized chicks while a full-sized fowl hen can manage a lot of bantam chicks. I typically put 12 eggs the size she normally lays under a broody but I had one hen that could only cover 10 eggs.

if you are going to have to brood some of the chicks yourself I'd probably give the one hen about ten to twelve chicks and try giving the other 3 to 5 to your broody with the older chicks. She might accept them and she might not. Pay attention when you try, you may need to brood them yourself anyway. But I think it would be worth a try.

Good luck!

All went surprisingly well. Both broody hens accepted the new chicks. Luna wasn't even sitting on the eggs when we placed the chicks under her. Luna got 11 and Jilly got 5 more so 9 total. When comparing the size of the 5-day old chicks to the day old, they were surprisingly close.

Now new questions arise. They are both in their own coops outside where it varies from 60 in the morning, 70s- 80s during the day and back down to 60 at night. They have the warmth from their mama at night but during the day, the two hens are doing a lot of digging in the ground. They call over the chicks occasionally. I know with a brooder, there's a heat lamp to keep them warm. But with a busy digging mama, there's a lot of time during the day where they don't get the warmth from her. I have seen a few fluffed up like they are cold. Should I have additional heating?

Also, when the two get into digging, it's like they enter a trance. If the chicks get in the way of their digging, they, too, get flung along with the dirt and mulch. I had heard some distressed peeping and saw that one of the chicks' feet was stuck under the foot of Luna, who was completely oblivious to the whole thing, as if she didn't even hear the chick. Is this normal?

I also now see chicks standing on their own, away from the frenzied digging, looking lonely and cold. What should my level of interaction be during all this time?

 

[DobieLover]

Should I have additional heating?

No. They will let their mothers know if they need her for heat.

If the chicks get in the way of their digging, they, too, get flung along with the dirt and mulch. Is this normal?

Completely normal. They need to learn to stay in front of her. They will.

What should my level of interaction be during all this time?

None. Just watch them and learn.

I also would not keep the mothers and their broods isolated from the flock. They should all be intermingling. The mothers will bed down with their broods on the floor of the coop in a corner with the mother facing out.

I had a failed graft of three GLW chicks to a D'Uccle bantam whose eggs were duds or died near the end of incubation. She refused to accept those chicks so they were raised with a brooder plate in the maternity ward in my coop in full view of the flock. When they were just 2.5 weeks old, they would simply huddle together up against the edge of the ward wall and not get under the brooder plate. They would only use that plate if the temps got into the low 50s. Otherwise, they were just fine. They have been out with the flock since they were 4.5 weeks old with no mother. Not a single bird has attacked them or really given them any grief at all.

Less than 1 week old chicks are fine zipping around in temperatures in the 20s as long as they can zip under a heat source to warm up when needed.

I also now see chicks standing on their own, away from the frenzied digging, looking lonely and cold.

If any of the chicks were in real distress, mom would take care of them. The chicks aren't sitting around looking lonely and cold. They are just taking a break from the mayhem, resting and watching... and learning.

 

[Ridgerunner]

But with a busy digging mama, there's a lot of time during the day where they don't get the warmth from her. I have seen a few fluffed up like they are cold. Should I have additional heating?

Broody hens were raising chicks without human help since before they were domesticated, thousands of years ago. Heat lamps had not been invented. The big difference now is that we confine them instead of let them free range. That means we need to provide food and water since Mama has trouble finding those unless we provide it. The chicks can run around in snow for a bit before they need to go back under a broody hen to get warm, let alone your temperatures. I'll link a thread where a highly respected member of this forum let a broody hatch and raise chicks in the dead of a Michigan winter. It may make you feel better about a broody hen and your temperatures.

Broody in Michigan Winter? | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens

If the chicks get in the way of their digging, they, too, get flung along with the dirt and mulch.

I've seen that. The chicks may go flying a couple of feet, bounce up, and run back to Mama. I don't like to see it, it sure looks like a chick could possibly get hurt. But I have not seen one get hurt yet from that.

I had heard some distressed peeping and saw that one of the chicks' feet was stuck under the foot of Luna, who was completely oblivious to the whole thing, as if she didn't even hear the chick. Is this normal?

Yes.

I also now see chicks standing on their own, away from the frenzied digging, looking lonely and cold. What should my level of interaction be during all this time?

Observe. Or walk away. If a chick is in distress you will hear distressed peeping.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with all of the above. Chicks raised like this get way more exercise than ones kept safe in a brooder.

I had a hen hatch out 4 in October, and two weeks later, it dropped to -20 F. I almost pulled the chicks. But I watched. Those chicks were zipping around, playing and eating. Then all at once, Mamma would change her cluck, and they would all get under her for a warm up. The cold did not seem to phase them.

Mrs K

 

[Carters Chick House]

We gave 4 chicks to a broody hen and she took them under her wing, literally. We have more chicks coming in a few days and another broody hen. We had nested some fake eggs for the other hen to sit on in a different area of the broody hen coop. But Jilly found them and immediately went to sit on them. I didn't want her abandoning her chicks so I brought her and the eggs over to the chicks. Now there are 4 eggs under her as well as the chicks.
So, would it be ok to switch the eggs out for the new chicks? They will be around 6 days younger than the other ones. We have 15 coming which is too many for our other broody hen.

Wow..15 is awesome. I put 12 under my hen. 7 have hatched. So far all looks good. She is in the coop enclosed in a makeshift cage so the flock wont steal the chick food. In a few days the hen will take them off nest to meet the flock. I have done this several times and so far all works out fine. My chicks are part of the flock within days after hatch. Hen does the work while I enjoy the hobby. Please post pics of your flock.