Broody hen with 3 week old chicks

[shellyga]

My first ever broody hen hatched out her chicks and has been very diligent about their lessons.. tonight.. for the first time since introducing them to the flock - Mama left them on the floor and rejoined the adults on the roost. The chicks are 3 1/2 weeks old. Being new to this.. wanted to ask if this is normal behavior? The chicks didn't seem to be following Mama around as much today and yesterday.. free ranging with the rest of them..but keeping close to the coop. They are bunched up and in basically the same location as she used when they tucked under her for the night.

second question.. how long now before she decides to lay again?

Shelly

 

[gryeyes]

The amount of time a hen spends raising up chicks she hatched varies. Some are "done!" at about 3.5 weeks, some carry it out to 7 weeks or so. So your hen is not acting outside the norm.

She will build up her stores within, as she has most certainly lost weight whilst brooding, and within a month after she's no longer raising chicks, she will probably start laying again. It could be sooner, even.

 

[nuttyredhead]

Mine started laying again when she was still in with her babies. They were around 5/6 weeks.