Found my lost hen, but will she bring her clutch home?

[RosiePosey]

About a month ago by favorite Australorp hen disappeared out of the blue. We coop our flock at night and they free-range during the day so we understand there's a risk for losing some to predators and assumed that was the case. Today I was in the barn and guess what? Peck was huddled up in the corner of an unused stall! When I moved towards the gate, she ran outside with about 16 baby chicks following her. I'd guess them to be just a few days old. My question is, will she bring them home to the coop with the rest of the flock? Should I find her nest and scoop them all up at night and move them into the coop? Will the rest of the flock let the chics in? I'm not sure what to do! I have attached a picture of our coop. There isn't a run, we just lower the ramp door in the morning to let everyone out and close it back up at night when they go to bed. Water and feed are inside. There are laying boxes 24" off the floor and staggered roosts throughout. The side windows can be opened (screens are over the windows on the inside) and there is a ventilation fan on the roof. Our flock: Oreo (barred rock roo), Henrietta (brown leghorn hen), The Twins (two white leghorn hens), Nugget (black sex-link hen), Scratch (Australorp hen), and of course, Elmer (cayuga deck hen). We have two duck boxes on the ground with straw in them suck Elmer doesn't roost or fly up to the laying boxes. Can Peck and her brood go in the duck box Elmer isn't using?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Congratulations on your brood!

My first thought is that if you can lock her up where she is in the spare stall now, then I'd let her be there for the next couple of weeks. She will want to integrate them into the flock, but timing can be tricky, depending upon the flock's overall nature.

In a flock that has grown accustomed to a momma and small chicks, you can easily hatch and brood inside the coop with momma integrating at about day 2. However, if the flock is not accustomed to that, there can be problems such as trampling of chicks and hazing of the mother when she re-enters the flock.

I find the best time to integrate with a non-savvy flock is when the chicks are about 2 weeks old. They are big enough and fast enough to stay out from under foot, the mother is still keenly interested in protecting the chicks, and seems better able to fend for herself without stranding a little one. However, careful watching the first couple of nights would be warranted in case the morning shuffle begins some altercations where babies get trampled as the big girls vie for power.

It is best to have an area carved out for the mom and chicks that is away from foot traffic and a place the chicks can hide if some chest bumping goes on. Their main job in the flock will be to keep up and keep out of the way of the bigger girls.

If you have a very good rooster, he will integrate momma and chicks for you driving away any aggressive hen. However, if he is a laid back type fellow, he'll simply watch as chaos erupts. If HE is aggressive, he may attack the chicks.

Bottomline, it totally depends on your flock's general temperament, but some wise precautions can prevent tragedy.

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

And

 

[RosiePosey]

Lady of McCamley, thank you for all of your input! My rooster is really docile with us but he does put a quick stop to the ladies pecking and fighting with each other and he's aggressive with other animals. So far we've seen him fight off a hawk and a neighbors cat when they came near his girls. I haven't seen him around chicks though. Everyone in our flock came together as chicks and have grown up together for the last year so none of them have been through introductions before. If my long lost-hen and her brood are safe in the barn for now and I just leave her be, will she eventually bring them home to the coop? If so, I'll go with that! I just would love to have her back with the group. We've missed her! She was the one that would crawl up in your lap and snuggle if you were outside when she came foraging by

 

[50-45-1]

WOW 16 baby chicks! Congratulations!
The chicks need chick starter and a chick waterer asap.
They may be ok in the empty stall but only you know how preditor proof it is.
I feel like sometimes a rogue broody hen gets away with sitting quietly for 30 days, but once the eggs hatch maybe its a smell of frezhly hatched eggs and all of the sudden a racoon or fox finds them. Ive had this happen twice with mama guineas in my orchard.
Your hen may or may not have trouble retuned to the coop right now, i like to give a new brood a couple weeks before introducing back to the gp. By then the chicks are big enough to get out of the way of any disagreements between the others and their Mom.
good luck!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I second the need for predator proofing, the sound of cheeping brings them quickly.

And I second the chick starter and water for the babes. Momma can eat that as well, or switch the whole flock to flock raiser. It is best if crumbles for the small peeps, but I have hens that have navigated the pellets and crumbled them for the chicks. Depends on the momma, so crumble is safest.

And yes, she likely will integrate them back to the flock. Your set up just worries me a bit as I'm not sure she'll have the ability to find floor space away from foot traffic. If you can set her up in a corner box on the floor away from the door, she may fair very well with the chicks there. Of course food and water will have to be available that the chicks can eat, or again, the whole flock on flock raiser crumble.

ETA: Also, put a brick in any open water pan if you use tubs or pans. Baby chicks are notorious for drowning themselves in the water bowls. If you have nipples or a fount, make sure babies can reach it and are strong enough to trigger it.

LofMc

 

[Mrs. K]

Clean out the bedding on the floor of your coop. Then leave them all be.

She knows where the coop and the flock is, she will bring the chicks into that when she thinks is best, and she knows more about this than all of us. Do not lock her up anywhere. If she has escaped the predators thus far, more than likely she is in a good spot.

Being as you free range, I would expect that within a couple of days, she will have the chicks in the coop on the floor in the place she likes best.

Let them all be, and let them handle it. Trouble will happen when you try and force it. I have tried numerous times to make a great nest for a broody hen for her to walk right by it and do it her own way.

Just have good fresh bedding. Switch everyone to either all flock feed or put everyone on chick starter, with oyster shell on the side.

good luck,

Mrs K

 

[RosiePosey]

Clean out the bedding on the floor of your coop. Then leave them all be.

She knows where the coop and the flock is, she will bring the chicks into that when she thinks is best, and she knows more about this than all of us. Do not lock her up anywhere. If she has escaped the predators thus far, more than likely she is in a good spot.

Being as you free range, I would expect that within a couple of days, she will have the chicks in the coop on the floor in the place she likes best.

Let them all be, and let them handle it. Trouble will happen when you try and force it. I have tried numerous times to make a great nest for a broody hen for her to walk right by it and do it her own way.

Just have good fresh bedding. Switch everyone to either all flock feed or put everyone on chick starter, with oyster shell on the side.

good luck,

Mrs K

She truly did pick the best spot in the barn to make a next. We found her hide-out last night and the only way to her and her babes means getting past the donkeys! I did put starter and water out for them yesterday so we’re good on that part!

 

[aart]

she ran outside with about 16 baby chicks following her.

you might need a bigger coop
Will be interesting to see what she does.

Oh, and....Welcome to BYC! @RosiePosey
Where in this world are you located?
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Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
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[Ridgerunner]

I grew up on a farm where the chickens free ranged. These were not show chickens and were not pets, they were livestock. No farmer wants his livestock to be killed and he wants them to grow and be productive. But on a subsistence farm livestock had to sort of fend for itself. The cows and horses got hay in the winter, the milk cow and horses got corn year around, but otherwise had to eat grass. The chickens foraged for practically everything they ate except in winter. These chickens did not lay double extra huge eggs, but they laid a lot. They did not get so big you have to worry about them hurting their legs when they fly down from a roost. I don't know what your goal are toward you chickens or how you feel about them, but I think your goals and feelings should play a part in how you handle this.

When a broody hen hatched chicks, always in good forage weather, she found everything the chicks ate. We did not get special feed for the chicks. We let her take them to get water out of the farm pond. We trusted our broodies to raise the chicks. Did we ever lose a chick? Of course. Any time you deal with living animals you have to occasionally deal with dead ones. If you free range they are always at risk, chicks more than adults mainly because of snakes and hawks. But the vast majority of the chicks that hatched were raised to weaning age by those broodies, including one that hid a nest and hatched 18 chicks. I don't know what your predator risk is, what your forage is like, or even where you are located to determine time of the year. Our broody hens integrated the chicks into the flock and usually took them onto the coop floor at night to sleep. Not always but usually. They did not take the chicks back to the nest where they hatched, those broken eggs smell and would attract predators. Chickens have been doing this for thousands of years. All broody hens may not have perfect instincts but most of them get it right if you let them.

I don't raise mine this way because of predators, mainly people dropping dogs off in the country. So I keep mine inside electric netting, plus the coop and main run. I let my broody hens hatch with the flock and raise the chicks with the flock. The vast majority of the chicks that make it past Day 2 after hatch live and do well. When I have young chicks I change to a Chick Starter for the entire flock for a month, but then go back to may typical Grower for the entire flock, with oyster shell on the side for those that need the calcium for eggs. Chicks ate some of that feed but the broody hens kept them out most all day foraging in the grass. I don't know how much of that chicken feed is part of their diet, definitely some but I suspect not a lot.

Another possible (probable?) issue is that your coop looks really small and you have a ramp getting into it. The broody may not be comfortable taking her chicks into that small of a coop or keeping them there wen they get bigger though I would expect her to try. Time will tell. But it is fairly common for the hen to hop up to the top of the ramp and call her chicks. They don't know to use the ramp, many gather under the ramp and can't hop up that high. When faced with that situation most broody hens will eventually hop back down and settle down with her chicks on the ground somewhere. This leaves then exposed to predators. We all have different situations.

If this happens I see three possible solutions. You can replace that ramp with steps. I use pavers and make steps on the front and both sides (the pop door is against the coop wall so all I have are three sides). That way the chicks can hop up to Mama when she calls. I do not have ramps.

Another option is to catch Mama and put her and the chicks inside that coop when it gets dark. The chicks should fairly soon learn to use that ramp but it may take a few days.

Yet another option is to house Mama and the chicks separately. If you keep her and the chicks locked in a separate shelter for three days she should take them back to that shelter at night instead of trying the main coop. At least that works for mine.

I don't know what your best solution is but good luck however you approach it.