Broody hen with imported fertilised eggs

[K0k0shka]

Pecking orders are fluid and change all the time - due to brooding, illness, isolation, etc. It's not true that a hen lower in the pecking order won't be able to protect her chicks. It's very individual, of course, but on the whole, broodiness puts the pecking order on pause and gives the broody hen extra balls to fend off anything endangering her chicks. She goes into mama bear mode. The flock should know to stay away from a broody and her babies, regardless of her previous place in the order. When the broody cycle ends and she weans the chicks, she may return to her previous place, or she may take advantage of the situation and enjoy a more permanent upgrade. That's what happened to my star broody and best mama. She started out very low in the pecking order (second from the bottom), but held her own during her maternity and liked it so much that she refused to go back to her old place. She ended up settling in the middle. And she keeps getting bolder with each round of chicks she raises.

 

[Perris]

The broody I showed was very low in the pecking order as she was so young; her 1st birthday was 1 day before the chicks hatched. To add to what K0k0shka said, with a free range perspective (my birds aren't confined), I think the disadvantage of a low-ranking broody is that she defers to higher ranked hens - so they don't attack the chicks, but she moves the chicks away from potential trouble - so I had to be attentive and do a bit of ducking and diving to ensure that they all got as much food as they wanted. The young broody was smart, and soon learned to bring them to the back door when the rest of the flock were all elsewhere, and I would offer them food quietly then. (Upside, that made her and them less skittish than most other flock members.) She got them all to independence with no losses (that's quite rare with free rangers), and her standing in the flock is now higher than her 2 sisters, who haven't gone broody.

 

[raingarden]

My hens with chicks seldom take any grief from hens that had previously been their bullies. Nothing is meaner than a hen with chicks.

Feeding free ranging chicks is difficult though because the other hens will creep in to grab food. With hens creeping in from all directions it is difficult for mom to fend them all off at once. The chicks may freak out and scatter because of the commotion.

Sometimes I turn a cardboard box upside-down and cut out little chick-size doors so the chicks can go in and out but the hens cannot. Then, put their chick feed under the box.

 

[Bonnieboo]

My hens with chicks seldom take any grief from hens that had previously been their bullies. Nothing is meaner than a hen with chicks.

Feeding free ranging chicks is difficult though because the other hens will creep in to grab food. With hens creeping in from all directions it is difficult for mom to fend them all off at once. The chicks may freak out and scatter because of the commotion.

Sometimes I turn a cardboard box upside-down and cut out little chick-size doors so the chicks can go in and out but the hens cannot. Then, put their chick feed under the box.

Love the upside down box idea. I have some old milk crates in the yard which the babies have figured out are good places to go and hide as they can get through the handle holes but no one else can! I'm going out right now to put some Chick Starter crumble in there now!!

 

[raingarden]

Wow. We have some milk crates too but I never thought of using them for hide-outs. Thank you very much.