Broody hen

[sammi_lynn12]

I have a hen who has been broody for going on four weeks now. I take her out to the food and water morning, afternoon, and evening time to make sure she is eating and drinking which she is but she will not give it a rest. Lol My boyfriend nonchalantly made the comment yesterday that "we should get more chickens" so of course I am over here plotting on whether I should get pullets getting ready to lay or baby chicks. Then I thought, maybe my broody hen will care for the chicks if I give them to her.

Well now I am thinking about the fact that I will more than likely have to separate her and the chicks and I don't really want the hassle of removing her from the flock and reintroducing down the road. I have a set up spacious enough for the chicks to be in the garage with a heat lamp until they are old enough to join the flock that I have used for my last two batches of chicks but it is not really an adequate enough of space for a full sized hen plus growing chicks.

Is there ANY chance she can raise them with the rest of the flock? I do not want to set her or the chicks up for failure nor do I want to see any of the chicks dead from another flock member. I am thinking my best bet is just to get chicks and raise them like I always do but I thought it would be a relief for her and fun to watch her raise them. This is when I wish I had an additional small coop and pen so they would have their own space within the current pen but unfortunately that is not an option unless I somehow stumble upon a good deal on fb marketplace.

 

[Isabella6Storm4]

I have a hen who has been broody for going on four weeks now. I take her out to the food and water morning, afternoon, and evening time to make sure she is eating and drinking which she is but she will not give it a rest. Lol My boyfriend nonchalantly made the comment yesterday that "we should get more chickens" so of course I am over here plotting on whether I should get pullets getting ready to lay or baby chicks. Then I thought, maybe my broody hen will care for the chicks if I give them to her.

Well now I am thinking about the fact that I will more than likely have to separate her and the chicks and I don't really want the hassle of removing her from the flock and reintroducing down the road. I have a set up spacious enough for the chicks to be in the garage with a heat lamp until they are old enough to join the flock that I have used for my last two batches of chicks but it is not really an adequate enough of space for a full sized hen plus growing chicks.

Is there ANY chance she can raise them with the rest of the flock? I do not want to set her or the chicks up for failure nor do I want to see any of the chicks dead from another flock member. I am thinking my best bet is just to get chicks and raise them like I always do but I thought it would be a relief for her and fun to watch her raise them. This is when I wish I had an additional small coop and pen so they would have their own space within the current pen but unfortunately that is not an option unless I somehow stumble upon a good deal on fb marketplace.

i think there's a good chance. The only time I had a broody raise her own chicks, she did it with the flock and she protected them. If you do end up doing that and she accepts them, i'd just keep an eye on them and go from there. You really never know what they're gonna do. If you're super worried about it, a safe bet is always just to raise them yourself, good luck!

 

[sammi_lynn12]

i think there's a good chance. The only time I had a broody raise her own chicks, she did it with the flock and she protected them. If you do end up doing that and she accepts them, i'd just keep an eye on them and go from there. You really never know what they're gonna do. If you're super worried about it, a safe bet is always just to raise them yourself, good luck!

I may give it shot this weekend if she is still broody. I just hate the thought of throwing a full grown hen in a smaller space for a few weeks until they are older if she does accept them. She is my fav hen, of course a buff orpington, and she is relentless on having babies

 

[JubileeFarmer]

I have raised several batches of chicks over the last three summers, always in the coop with the rest of the flock, and have never had any problem. Many people do it that way. However I have heard stories of hens attacking chicks so you would want to keep a close eye on them for the first couple of days just to be sure.