Broody hen entering 3rd week with 7 eggs!

[wildswanfarm]

Hello all. We have a year old broody hen. To be precise, "Miss Jean Broody". We've marked 7 eggs since the 2nd of June and have kept the other 16 hen's eggs away from her. We realize it's a bit late, even here on Vancouver Island with our late & cool summer, but it is our first go at having a hen raise her own chicks.
She's in one of the regular nest boxes, but I've built a screened off area within the coop and plan to put her and the chicks in there with food and water for her as soon as they begin to hatch. We tried moving her a week ago, but she would have none of it.
We assume the little ones must be protected from the rooster and the other hens, but for how long?
I have a little door for them to go into a protected area in the pen directly from their space in the coop. Will that be necessary, or when she's ready, will she just take them out among the flock?
Thanks

 

[JanO]

Hello all. We have a year old broody hen. To be precise, "Miss Jean Broody". We've marked 7 eggs since the 2nd of June and have kept the other 16 hen's eggs away from her. We realize it's a bit late, even here on Vancouver Island with our late & cool summer, but it is our first go at having a hen raise her own chicks.
She's in one of the regular nest boxes, but I've built a screened off area within the coop and plan to put her and the chicks in there with food and water for her as soon as they begin to hatch. We tried moving her a week ago, but she would have none of it.
We assume the little ones must be protected from the rooster and the other hens, but for how long?
I have a little door for them to go into a protected area in the pen directly from their space in the coop. Will that be necessary, or when she's ready, will she just take them out among the flock?
Thanks

Congrats on your new babies. I wouldn't move her at all, especially when they begin to hatch. She's content where she is and she's obviously done a good job protecting her eggs so just leave her be. If you try to move her she could very well resent your interference and abandon the nest and chicks. It's better to just leave her alone and don't try to inspect the hatch or chicks until she's ready to bring them out. I've seen hens kill or abandon their chicks because of human interferance. Remember hens have been hatching clutches of eggs for centuries and they know more than we do. When the eggs hatch she will continue to stay on the nest for another couple of days, then she will take the babies out for food and water. It's normal for her to do this so don't panic when she refuses to move them sooner. The chicks can go for 2 or 3 days without food. The first few days after she brings them out she'll spend a lot of time just keeping them warm and protected on the floor of the coop and bring them out from time to time as she feels the need.

Hens are fierce protectors of their babies and she will make sure they are not attacked by the other hens or rooster. I am assuming that your chickens free range, or at least have a large run. Believe me, she will do whatever it takes to protect her chicks until they are ready to take care of themselves so unless you have a space issue that could encourage bullying from the other hens, just leave her be and allow her to be a mom.

It's quite amazing to watch a hen raise her chicks, and I've learned that it's best to let them do it their way. The less interference from us humans, the better.

 

[wildswanfarm]

Thank you "chillin" !! Advice worth taking.
Our other fear was that the nest she is in is 4 1/2 feet off the coop floor, which has us worrying about chicks falling...?
If that is not to be feared, all is well.
Thanks again!
Dirk and Johanna

 

[JanO]

The height of the nest shouldn't be a big problem. I've seen them up that high before and come out just fine. Make sure that there isn't anything on the ground to harm them such as a rock, or tool of some sort. As long as they land on bedding or something of that sort they will be fine.

 

[wildswanfarm]

Thank you very much. Dirk