Broody hen

[Kaford]

So I went on vacation for a week while my husband was doing work around the house and I came home and one of my hens is broody. I went to collect aggs and noticed she was sitting on about 3 or 4. I'm tempted to let her do her thing but I also have a 18 chickens total 2 I know for sure are roosters. My question is if she is successful in hatching them will the roosters go after the chicks? Will the other hens or pullets go after them? How successful is a broody hen at hatching a clutch of chicks? Should i move her and the eggs? This is my first broody hen and I'm wondering if I should break her or let nature take its course and let her be a mama. My husband said she did come out of the coop for short spurts so I guess she hasn't been held up in there being stubborn but I want to make sure she is OK to.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

The hen and chicks might be better off in a look but don't touch safety area.
That way the hen and chicks will be safe but can still see and interact with each other.

 

[Cwat2006]

personally I’d just let them be and keep an eye on them I’ve got 25 chickens and have had multiple hens hatch out chicks currently have a mum now and they do perfectly fine with the other girls I keep them in a seperate smaller coop just for night but that’s because our main coop is raised and chicks can’t get up into the coop I know that the chicks are completely fine staying with the rest of the flock the mum will protect them and chicks will stick with mum roosters also tend to be better with new chicks then girls separating them just means the flock will forget about them then it’ll be harder to re introduce them back

 

[Ridgerunner]

My question is if she is successful in hatching them will the roosters go after the chicks?

My mature rooster doesn't. He assumes they are his babies. Sometimes he helps Mama take care of them, especially when she needs help, but usually he just ignores them. Immature cockerels are not mature roosters, but my broody hens keep them in their place.

Will the other hens or pullets go after them?

Mine hardly ever do. If they do, Mama whips butt. Sometimes she whips butt if she just thinks they are getting too close. You are dealing with living animals so anything can happen. You read stories on here where a rooster or especially a hen goes after the chicks and the broody hen does not protect her chicks, I'm sure that happens. But with three or four broody hens a year I've never seen that happen.

How successful is a broody hen at hatching a clutch of chicks?

You are dealing with living animals so bad things can happen. Bad things can happen if you incubate them in an incubator. Typically a broody hen can do as well or better than we can with an incubator, but with living animals you don't get guarantees on any one event.

Should i move her and the eggs?

What do your facilities look like? How big is your coop and how big is the run? What does your nest look like? If room is tight moving her is probably a good idea. If you have room in the coop and in the run it's probably not necessary but some people do anyway. My broody hens hatch with the flock in nests 2' and 4' above the coop floor. That height isn't a problem. But if the nest is so small the hen is sitting right next to the edge it might be. Photos of the coop, run, and nest could be helpful in accessing this.

I'd suggest you do not hatch those eggs. If you are going to let her hatch I'd gather all the eggs you want her to hatch and start them at the same time. That way you know when they should hatch and, more importantly, they should all hatch at the same time. You do not want a staggered hatch where hatch is strung out over days. Those are stressful to you and often not real successful.

If you are going to let her hatch with the flock mark those eggs, I use a black sharpie. Then every day after the others have laid check under her and remove any that don't belong. You can still use them if you remove them daily.

if you decide to move her and keep her locked up until she hatches you don't have to mark the eggs but still start fresh eggs, all at the same time.

This is my first broody hen and I'm wondering if I should break her or let nature take its course and let her be a mama.

Totally your choice. You will probably get boys if you hatch. Do you have a plan for those?

My husband said she did come out of the coop for short spurts so I guess she hasn't been held up in there being stubborn but I want to make sure she is OK to.

Before a hen or pullet even starts laying she builds up excess fat. That excess fat is what a broody mostly lives on so she can spend most of her time on the nest instead of out searching for food. She will lose weight while incubating but that is normal, it's fat put there for that purpose.

I've seen a broody hen come off of her nest twice a day for over an hour each time. I've seen a broody come off once a day for 15 minutes. I never see some broody hens off of the nest but I know they are coming off because they don't poop in the nest. A broody should come off on her schedule to eat, drink, poop, and maybe take a dust bath whether you see her or not. She's not being stubborn she is doing it the way nature intended her to do it.

 

[Kaford]

My mature rooster doesn't. He assumes they are his babies. Sometimes he helps Mama take care of them, especially when she needs help, but usually he just ignores them. Immature cockerels are not mature roosters, but my broody hens keep them in their place.


Mine hardly ever do. If they do, Mama whips butt. Sometimes she whips butt if she just thinks they are getting too close. You are dealing with living animals so anything can happen. You read stories on here where a rooster or especially a hen goes after the chicks and the broody hen does not protect her chicks, I'm sure that happens. But with three or four broody hens a year I've never seen that happen.


You are dealing with living animals so bad things can happen. Bad things can happen if you incubate them in an incubator. Typically a broody hen can do as well or better than we can with an incubator, but with living animals you don't get guarantees on any one event.


What do your facilities look like? How big is your coop and how big is the run? What does your nest look like? If room is tight moving her is probably a good idea. If you have room in the coop and in the run it's probably not necessary but some people do anyway. My broody hens hatch with the flock in nests 2' and 4' above the coop floor. That height isn't a problem. But if the nest is so small the hen is sitting right next to the edge it might be. Photos of the coop, run, and nest could be helpful in accessing this.

I'd suggest you do not hatch those eggs. If you are going to let her hatch I'd gather all the eggs you want her to hatch and start them at the same time. That way you know when they should hatch and, more importantly, they should all hatch at the same time. You do not want a staggered hatch where hatch is strung out over days. Those are stressful to you and often not real successful.

If you are going to let her hatch with the flock mark those eggs, I use a black sharpie. Then every day after the others have laid check under her and remove any that don't belong. You can still use them if you remove them daily.

if you decide to move her and keep her locked up until she hatches you don't have to mark the eggs but still start fresh eggs, all at the same time.


Totally your choice. You will probably get boys if you hatch. Do you have a plan for those?


Before a hen or pullet even starts laying she builds up excess fat. That excess fat is what a broody mostly lives on so she can spend most of her time on the nest instead of out searching for food. She will lose weight while incubating but that is normal, it's fat put there for that purpose.

I've seen a broody hen come off of her nest twice a day for over an hour each time. I've seen a broody come off once a day for 15 minutes. I never see some broody hens off of the nest but I know they are coming off because they don't poop in the nest. A broody should come off on her schedule to eat, drink, poop, and maybe take a dust bath whether you see her or not. She's not being stubborn she is doing it the way nature intended her to do it.

Thank you so much! I think k the eggs she is laying on are fresh ones my husband had taken them when he saw her out of the nest while I was away. Will mark them when I go back out I think 2 of them are hers for sure. Is it more common to have cockerels then pullets hatch naturally?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is it more common to have cockerels then pullets hatch naturally?

If you hatch enough the odds are going to come out right at 50-50. But you are not going to hatch enough with 3 or 4 eggs. And you don't know how many will hatch. If you hatch 3 chicks the odds are that you will get all three boys 1 time in 8. You'll also get all girls 1 time in 8. You'll get 2 boys 3 times in 8 or 2 girls 3 times in 8.

If you hatch 4 the odds of all boys is 1 in 16. Odds of all girls is also 1 in 16. I'm not going through the other odds but you should get the picture. One time I got 7 girls out of 7 eggs. The odds of that happening are less than 1 in 100 but for that hatch it happened.

It is very common when I hatch 20 chicks to get 2/3 or 3/4 of one sex or the other. That seems to happen more often than close to a 50-50 hatch. If I keep track of every hatch over a two year period it comes close to a 50-50 split, but any one hatch can be way off either way.