Broody hen...incorporating live chick's

[Hobbits Mommie]

This is my coop. It's as predator proof as it gets with hardware cloth covering everything, and the wood is completely sealed, attached to a hardware cloth covered run dug 2 feet into the ground. The nesting boxes are basically milk crates sitting on raised platforms. Even though there are multiple boxes, all of the hens only lay in the one.

So my question / concern is should I move the milk crate off of the platform so that it's on the ground where I can give access to food & water? Or, make a space that only she and the babies can get to because the other hens are inevitably going to want to get in the box too... (who knew so many choices were to be made)

 

[Hobbits Mommie]

 

[bobbi-j]

If you can, I’d put the milk crate on the ground and lay it on it’s side so she can lead the chicks in and out of it.

Whether you separate them or not is up to you. I have found that my broodies usually keep their chicks away from the rest of the flock for a few days in their own. Then they start integrating. Sometimes another hen will give them a disciplinary peck if a chick gets too close, and they learn their manners. Mama is very protective at this stage, so she will generally keep the other hens at bay.
By having mama introduce them young, they will already be accepted members of the flock by the time she weans them at 4-6 weeks (or so) of age.

 

[bobbi-j]

Just saw the pictures - I would definitely just put that on the floor and let her have her babies in there.

 

[bobbi-j]

An advantage to integrating them young - if something happens to mama, they’re already part of the flock. I had that experience several years ago. When the chicks were 4-5 weeks old, a raccoon killed the mama, but because they’d been with the flock since they hatched, they were fine.

 

[Hobbits Mommie]

An advantage to integrating them young - if something happens to mama, they’re already part of the flock. I had that experience several years ago. When the chicks were 4-5 weeks old, a raccoon killed the mama, but because they’d been with the flock since they hatched, they were fine.

I'm going to get the babies tonight. Wish me luck & I'll post pictures soon.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm going to get the babies tonight. Wish me luck & I'll post pictures soon.

Will be waiting for an update!

 

[Redhead Rae]

 

[Mrs. K]

Nothing is more fun that a hen with chicks. Make sure the new chicks have got a drink of water before you take them down.

And I second the idea of having them get a little chilled, makes them burrow in tight to that warm spot under mama and that movement under her, is what flips the broody switch to taking care of chicks mode. It makes them peep wildly.

Keep it dark as possible, wear a thick sweatshirt, let them peep madly for a few minutes where she can hear them. Then stick them under her and then do the hardest part. LEAVE and don't go back. You can stand outside for a few moments, it should get silent, and then the broody begins to cluck to them, but the peeping should stop. Go back to the house and leave them be.

Many people in trying to be helpful, make too much commotion and wind up upsetting mamma and chicks, and the bond does not form. Just let them figure it out.

MRs K

 

[bobbi-j]

then do the hardest part. LEAVE Go back to the house and leave them be.
Many people in trying to be helpful, make too much commotion and wind up upsetting mamma and chicks, and the bond does not form. Just let them figure it out.

MRs K

Yes. Very much this. Chickens are much better at being chickens if we'd just let them be. Really - they don't need nearly as much "help" from us as we think they do.