Confused Newbie.

[Samsunmike]

Hello, I have a broody hen that was sitting on 2 of her own eggs. Within the period of a few days some of the other hens laid another 6 eggs.The broody hen was sitting on the 8 eggs & 3 days ago 2 healthy chicks hatched. The broody hen sometimes leaves the other 6 eggs,& then goes back to them. All the unhatched eggs are now past 21 days. Are they still likely to hatch,or should I remove them ? Question 2. The mother & her 2 chicks are seperated from the other chickens. A neighbour says I should put the chicks in a seperate enclosure, & let the mother hen back with the other chickens. Is this correct,or should I keep mother & chicks together until they get bigger ?

 

[Perris]

How much past 21 days? As long as the broody keeps going back to sit on them, I'd hang on and only give up on them when she does.

As for your Q2, I would advise the opposite. A broody knows how to raise chicks, and if you remove her, you'll have to do it. Do you know how to do it? (And fwiw, I would only take your neighbour's advice if s/he has raised chickens for longer than you have, and has done it successfully.) If the rest of the flock can see broody and her chicks, they are already integrating. If you separate them completely, you'll have to integrate them later.

 

[Samsunmike]

How much past 21 days? As long as the broody keeps going back to sit on them, I'd hang on and only give up on them when she does.

As for your Q2, I would advise the opposite. A broody knows how to raise chicks, and if you remove her, you'll have to do it. Do you know how to do it? (And fwiw, I would only take your neighbour's advice if s/he has raised chickens for longer than you have, and has done it successfully.) If the rest of the flock can see broody and her chicks, they are already integrating. If you separate them completely, you'll have to integrate them later.

Thanks for the reply. I will take your advice.

 

[kittylovesjar]

Hello, I have a broody hen that was sitting on 2 of her own eggs. Within the period of a few days some of the other hens laid another 6 eggs.The broody hen was sitting on the 8 eggs & 3 days ago 2 healthy chicks hatched. The broody hen sometimes leaves the other 6 eggs,& then goes back to them. All the unhatched eggs are now past 21 days. Are they still likely to hatch,or should I remove them ? Question 2. The mother & her 2 chicks are seperated from the other chickens. A neighbour says I should put the chicks in a seperate enclosure, & let the mother hen back with the other chickens. Is this correct,or should I keep mother & chicks together until they get bigger ?

I had this same thing happen with my hen that went broody recently. It was my first time too! Mama hatched 2 chicks (one didn’t make it) and was still sitting on 10 eggs for a full week after the first babies hatched. She was pretty dedicated for that week but then started leaving the nest periodically after that. I decided to take the extra eggs out at that point and I’m glad I did because they all started exploding as they were rotten.
Mama & baby are in a separate “room” next to the big coop with the other chickens & rooster. They can see & hear each other but are apart from the flock. I had read that the other hens could be aggressive with the baby so I decided to separate. She’s been in there for the past 4.5 weeks and she’s doing great mothering her baby. She can see the other hens & vice versa. Our chickens free-range during the day. While baby was small & fluffy I kept her & mama in their private enclosure. But now that baby is getting bigger and getting her feathers I’ve been alternating days keeping the rest of the flock in one day, letting mama out another day. It’s giving them a chance to see each other through the coop and mama is so cute teaching baby all about catching bugs, dust baths, etc.
I hope all goes well with your new family!

 

[Samsunmike]

I had this same thing happen with my hen that went broody recently. It was my first time too! Mama hatched 2 chicks (one didn’t make it) and was still sitting on 10 eggs for a full week after the first babies hatched. She was pretty dedicated for that week but then started leaving the nest periodically after that. I decided to take the extra eggs out at that point and I’m glad I did because they all started exploding as they were rotten.
Mama & baby are in a separate “room” next to the big coop with the other chickens & rooster. They can see & hear each other but are apart from the flock. I had read that the other hens could be aggressive with the baby so I decided to separate. She’s been in there for the past 4.5 weeks and she’s doing great mothering her baby. She can see the other hens & vice versa. Our chickens free-range during the day. While baby was small & fluffy I kept her & mama in their private enclosure. But now that baby is getting bigger and getting her feathers I’ve been alternating days keeping the rest of the flock in one day, letting mama out another day. It’s giving them a chance to see each other through the coop and mama is so cute teaching baby all about catching bugs, dust baths, etc.
I hope all goes well with your new family!

Thanks for your reply. I will leave the unhatched eggs for a few more days & see what happens.Meanwhile the mother is happy with her 2 chicks,they are in their own enclosure & they can see the other chickens so I will keep them together until they get a bit bigger.