Do you leave broody hens in the coop or separate?

[2 many chickens]

Mine are away from each other on opposite ends of the nest boxes.

I think it should be fine.
I think where I went wrong is they both were sitting literally right beside each other.
Good luck, I'm sure they will be great moms!

 

[jlholm]

I think it should be fine.
I think where I went wrong is they both were sitting literally right beside each other.
Good luck, I'm sure they will be great moms!

Thank you!

 

[Th55]

My hen with the 2 week olds nests in a secure snake proof cage inside the coop. We lock her up after she goes in there in the pm and let her out in am. The main coop auto door is open by then.
The 2 broodies are also separated, one is a mean little heffer locked in a cage by herself the other is on a nest box locked down.
Since I was thinking about giving each of these two hens 1/2 the chicks each I was hoping the current hen will start roosting soon so I can use the smaller snake proof cage for one of the soon to be step momma hens. No idea how I’m gonna handle the other since I don’t have but the one cage.
Should be interesting.

 

[CrystalAnon]

X2 here! I'm lucky enough to have enough space to put a dog kennel right inside the coop, so that's where I put my broodies. I did learn - the hard way - to put hardware cloth around the outside, though, so the chicks can't slip out of the kennel where Mama can't protect them. We went through a lot of Blu-Kote with that batch!

How long did you keep mamma & babies in the kennel? Did you have them pip in the coop, or elsewhere, and then put them in the kennel? How big was the kennel? I have that setup now, although I need to add the hardware cloth. Did you ever have ant problems after they pipped? That’s my main concern right now with letting them hatch in the coop.
Did you let the babies forage with mamma when they were small? Or keep them in the run while the others foraged?
I’m a first time broody-care-person. We should have them hatching on the 25th or 26th. I’m trying to think of everything before it happens! The ants attacked a broken egg in the kennel when my gal first went broody. I think it was caused by a hen fight over that kennel, because it became all of their favorite place to lay.
Because I’m having day-terrors about coming into the coop and seeing our pipping eggs covered in ants, I’m tempted to move her inside until they hatch, but I’m not certain that’s the best for mamma, or the eggs at this point.
Any info or experience will help!
Thank you!!!

 

[MROO]

I've never had a problem with ants unless there was a broken egg. Hatching doesn't seem to draw them like free-egg-yolk dinners do! If you have an ant problem in your coop, try adding some diatomaceous earth. That seems to keep the ants at bay around here ... and we have a LOT of ants!

I no longer hatch in the kennels. They are 2X3 and 3X4 ft with hardware cloth around the bases. They worked for the first week or so, but were too quickly outgrown and didn't offer enough containment for tiny bantam chicks that can fly at three days! I use the kennels that used to be broody-houses for integration, now.

As my flock grew, I had too many issues with chicks getting injured or worse. Nowadays, Mama and babies don't join the main flock until the chicks are fully hard-feathered for the same reason. My birds can't free-range at all - too many predators - so foraging isn't an issue.

As soon as a hen looks like she means business (within the first week,) I move her and her nest to a large rabbit hutch with a nesting box attached. It's big enough for one hen and up to a dozen babies. The hutch "lives" right next to the main run, so the rest of the flock sees the chicks from the start, which makes integration easier. They don't join the main flock until they are fully hard-feathered.

Since your eggs are so close to hatching, the less movement, the better. If they are already in the kennel, you can move the whole thing, but moving individual eggs might mess up their hatching position. If you can't move the nest, you can move Mama and babies once the hatching is over. If you plan to leave them in with the main flock, make sure the little ones have LOTS of things to hide under and behind. Crates with small doorways that chicks can enter but chickens can't, a low table-like set-up they can go under but big birds can't flip - just safe spots.

Good Luck! Hatching is fun!