Does A Broody Hen Need Isolation?

[ChickenLane]

Well when a hen goes "Broody" does she need to be isolated with her clutch or can she stay with the others and hatch her babies and raise them or does she need to have her own space for this stage of her life?

 

[canada-goose]

It's better to separate a broody from the flock.

 

[ChickenLane]

Now by separate do you mean to move her to a whole other place like a make shift cage with a nest box or just kinda block her in her box in the coop I'm. Sorry for the elementary questions I just don't know!

 

[canada-goose]

A separate pen, if possible. A roomy cage (well protected from raccoons, of course!) might work.

 

[ChickenLane]

So basically a dog cage with nest box in the garage with lights on a timer and ample heat when needed and food and water of course should be plenty correct. And also at what time/ age would I reintroduce the new chicks and mother back to the flock?

 

[TXmom]

My personal experience with leaving my Broody Silkie in the coop ended badly. She made her little nest in the corner of the coop, but the other hens were always messing with her. They would push her over and lay their eggs in her spot, then she would get back on them. I had to remove those new eggs daily so they weren't on a different hatching schedule than the originals. We built a little bit of a cage around her corner...just used little wood slats on 2 sides, and the corner of the coop formed the other 2 sides. We thought it would keep the other chickens away from her and the babies. Well, 4 babies hatched and they were sooooo adorable. By that afternoon, she only had 2 babies. Two vanished in their first few hours after hatching...I was shocked and sad. I think the babies got too close to the edge of the cage and either fell out through the slats, or were pulled out by the bigger chickens. We should have used hardware cloth around that cage...not slats a couple of inches apart. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Now our little Silkie is broody again, and she is in her very own broody house. It was actually a little goat house, but we don't have goats anymore so we converted it into a small coop and she's happily sitting on 7 Silkie eggs. The other chickens cannot get into the broody house to mess with her or the babies. I hope things turn out much better this time!

 

[canada-goose]

Quote:
Sounds about right.

Reintroduce them when they're big, fat and aggressive.

 

[ChickenLane]

One last question. When it is time to transition her from the local coop to her new maximum security pen how do I go about this? Will she take it lightly or just give it up all do to the commotion?

 

[canada-goose]

Quote:
She shouldn't mind too much but it would be best to do it at night.