Broody hen raising chicks- how hard is it?

[Chold05]

I’m so I just raised 5 chicks in a brooder. They’re finally all incorporated with the big girls and all is well.

I was hoping to time getting them for June when my Maran goes broody but it didn’t work out.

Every June like clockwork she wants babies and I’d really like to let her try and hatch/raise them at some point. (She 3 years old)

I’m starting a new job in 2 weeks so I’m hesitant to start this now since I’ve never experienced it.

Can anyone shed some light on how much work it is? How much does she need to be monitored? Etc?

Thank you!

 

[Shadrach]

It's one of those it's a hard as one makes it endeavours.
The easiest explanation is if your chicken keeping setup is right for broody hatching then the broody hen does it all for you including the integration into the existing tribe.

Post some pictures of your coop/s, inside and out showing the nest box arrangement, the run, if there is one, the area around the run if your chickens get let out of the coop run at some point during the day.
How many hens do you have?
Would these be purchased fertile eggs, or do you have a rooster?

Given there is no immediate rush, I'll bookmark your thread and add further information once you've posted with pictures.

 

[Chold05]

It's one of those it's a hard as one makes it endeavours.
The easiest explanation is if your chicken keeping setup is right for broody hatching then the broody hen does it all for you including the integration into the existing tribe.

Post some pictures of your coop/s, inside and out showing the nest box arrangement, the run, if there is one, the area around the run if your chickens get let out of the coop run at some point during the day.
How many hens do you have?
Would these be purchased fertile eggs, or do you have a rooster?

Given there is no immediate rush, I'll bookmark your thread and add further information once you've posted with pictures.

I would purchase fertilized eggs. We don’t have a rooster.

Here are some photos of my setup. They’re allowed to free range if supervised. (We have a ton of hawks) the area around opens up into our backyard which is around 2 acres.

(The photo of the run is old. Theres more roosts and such inside now) nest box photo was pre-bedding. Now there are mats inside the nest boxes.

 

[mcdze]

you need a good setup and lots of room imo .. a barn where a broody can nest, be safe, undisturbed, and uncrowded by other chickens as example ... in my experience with a small home operation, smallish coop etc, using a broody causes more work and problems than it solves ... hatching and brooding chicks yourself is the cleanest way to do it with the most positive results .. working out your method is key though, its 'not' hard, but the mistake alot of newbs make is trying it actually inside the house .. chickens are messy dusty creatures, that is NOT a good plan, only for the first several days till theyre hardened off and moving around well, then they go to the garage/outside .. so .. to be slick you need 2 brooders, a starter brooder indoors, a main brooder in the garage AND an outside pen, and work out your method, takes me about 5 mins a day to service them, move them around etc .. id rather spend that 5 than clean up busted eggs from a broody and dispose of the dead chicks she loses .. so again, broodies may work if you got the setup and space for it .. otherwise this is the modern world .. join it ...

 

[Shadrach]

I would purchase fertilized eggs. We don’t have a rooster.

Here are some photos of my setup. They’re allowed to free range if supervised. (We have a ton of hawks) the area around opens up into our backyard which is around 2 acres.

(The photo of the run is old. Theres more roosts and such inside now) nest box photo was pre-bedding. Now there are mats inside the nest boxes.

That all looks quite hopefull.
One problem is the nest boxes. The hen needs to get off her nest every day to poop, dust bathe, eat and drink. I can't stress enough how important the getting off the nest to do these things is.
With the amount of room you have in the coop you could build a makeshift maternity unit on the ground. This becomes important when and if the hen hatches any chicks. The chicks will not be able to reach the nest boxes to get back to the nest once mum takes them out.

This article attempts to illustrate some of the common nest box problems. In general it's the nest site that determines the hatch rate success assuming fertile eggs.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...e-make-a-sitting-hens-job-so-difficult.74389/

I assume your hens have access to the run during daylight and they have dust bath spots in the run. Your broody hen will need access to these spots.

There are few rules which if kept to do in my experience make broody hatching easy.
Clearly mark the fertile eggs you give your broody. Even with a maternity unit such as you can see in the article I've linked to, other hens are likely to make donations and you must remove these on a daily basis.

A broody hen should have the freedom to come and go as she pleases. That means don't lock her in except at night.

You can leave water at the nest site but not food. Food will attract other hens, ants, rodents and other undesirable creatures.
If you build a maternity unit with a small run attatched inside the coop or run food can be given there, but most hens prefer to join the rest of the tribe to eat and drink.

This may not be something you have any control over, but the more senior the hen, the easier things go both in sitting and integration of new chicks. If a hen can't defend her nest, then she won't be able to defend her chicks either. This doesn't mean junior hens can't sit and hatch, it just makes life easier if the broody has some clout in the tribe.

 

[Shadrach]

Some further reading for you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors.71995/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/yes-you-certainly-can-brood-chicks-outdoors.68067/

 

[K0k0shka]

The chances of success depend heavily on the broody herself, and on the rest of the flock. Best case scenario - the broody does a great job and you leave her in a nest in the coop, where she sits the whole time, hatches the chicks herself, integrates and raises them herself and you basically have to do nothing other than provide food and water close to the nest (for her and then for the chicks to reach). This is possible, it's easy, it's great, it has happened to me and I have loved it. However, any other number of scenarios are also possible, from the hen not doing a good job sitting (returns to the wrong nest; fails to keep the eggs under herself; fails to protect the nest and allows others to sit with her and potentially break her eggs; or quits partway through), to her not doing a good job with the chicks after they hatch (doesn't protect them well enough from the flock, doesn't stay with them, doesn't respond to their needs properly etc.) to the flock being aggressive and potentially hurting or even killing the chicks. I've had some of those scenarios happen to me as well, turning the whole process into a lot more work. You won't know how it's gonna go until you get there, so, especially if this is your first time (and her first time), and you will be unavailable because of work, this may not be the best time.

If you still want to try it, you can try to foolproof the process as much as you can to prevent some of the above bad scenarios. The easiest way to do that is to put the broody in a large wire crate inside the coop (and this is where having a nice big roomy coop like yours, and not one of those cutesy lil dollhouses, really pays off!) Make a nest for her out of a shallow box at one end of the crate, and put food and water at the other (elevated on bricks so she doesn't kick shavings into them or poop in them). Move her to that nest after dark, and leave her there until her chicks hatch. This will guard against some of the possible fails - returning to the wrong nest, others crowding her and breaking her eggs, etc. You'd still need to check on her daily to clean her massive broody poop and refill food/water, but that's it. After the chicks hatch, open the door of the crate. When she is ready, she will lead them out, and because they've been within sight of the flock, you won't need to do integrations. After having a couple of things go wrong with the completely hands off approach, this is what I do now, and it's working really well.

Here's my broody from this past spring. A few things to note:

- She's on the floor, not in a nest, because she refused all the containers I made nests in for her. This is not ideal, because she kept pooping near the eggs and getting everywhere. Next time I'll try harder to come up with a nest that her highness approves of.

- The crate is under the roosts, so I tied a feed bag to the top of it so she doesn't get pooped on.

- There is clear plastic around the bottom of the crate, to prevent the chicks from slipping through the bars and wandering off, unable to figure out how to get back in (it has happened to me... chicks are stupid)

- After the chicks hatched, I put a stepping-stone brick next to the other bricks so the chicks could step up and reach the food and water, but I kept everything elevated, otherwise they make a huge mess.

- Good luck!