Can someone explain the process?

[CalliBee]

Something that might also be worth considering is making a specialized "broody box" - effectively a nest box that requires a 4+ inch hop to leave. The purpose of this is that chicks are adventurous, but not quite smart or agile. If they fall out of a raised box, they won't have the hop to get back into the nest box. Additionally, they likely won't be able to do ramps.

Oh man I haven’t even though about that and the babies falling out! It’s a wonder chickens have lived it to make it this far in life before humans came and started farming them

Luckily I won’t have to worry about that for another year but I will definitely remember that!

 

[Battlepants]

Oh man I haven’t even though about that and the babies falling out! It’s a wonder chickens have lived it to make it this far in life before humans came and started farming them

Sheer numbers. Surely a lot didn't make it, but when a hen has 3 weeks of downtime to potentially increase the population by like 4-8 more birds, a population can withstand a decent amount of mortality. Now, for our backyard chickens, we prefer a much higher survival rate, so we are glad to have conversations like these.

Raising chicks is a good deal of learning and stress, but it can be very rewarding!

 

[Chicken poppy]

Oh no I just thought of another absurd question…
What happens if 2 or more hens go broody at once and decide to lay in the same spot?

I would separate the hens and divide the eggs if you want two broody hens.

As cute as it is i don’t think its worth it because often times one gets picked on by the broody hen thats more dominant and gets eggs stolen, and it can lead to some other unwanted drama.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Broody hens are so worth it to me. I have a broody incubating eggs right now.

You see things as it would be naturally, a protective mom guarding her babies with her life, teaching them the wonders of the world. Its all so exciting and new for the baby chicks and the mom.

Its really precious. As with all things there are complications that come with it, but for the most part, the mom does the work. No spending hours trying to make the chicks shush and not scream their heads off, and no trying to mix the chicks in with the flock and it failing.

Of course, again, things don’t always work out like this.