Hatching eggs in November

[centrarchid]

Youngest of four broods to be reared outside through winter. Others to be reared in elevated cages to be treated later. Current arrangement starts with a ten x ten dog kennel. Multiple American Dominiques (male) free-ranging outside pen will provide warning system and protection when Coopers Hawk comes in. Chicks otherwise will be targeted. Currently I want hen to roost on ground well away from walls and outer perimeter to decrease odds a predator will tempted to conduct a snatch and grab through wire.

Location when complete where brood and hen will be nestled between square bales to stay warm and dry. Son is standing in that location.

Brood and hen feeding where want them to eat and I will be able see at a glance. Effort already underway to tame her and brood making my efforts to relocate her roosting easier if needed.

Closeup of chicks. Hatching finished early AM November 1. They are at stage they are incredibly vulnerable to hypothermia when ambient temperatures low. Every effort will be made to they do not have to invest much time with feeding, drinking or following mom to another location.

Less than ideal where not yet able jump into a shallow box. That could have lethal results if some combination of cold. I pulled nest immediately after photograph made.

Confined chicks take much more time to care for under the best of conditions. As seasons progress much of the invested care will done without benefits of sunlight.Procedure will be streamlined so I do not feel rushed and have time to double check everything. Usual warning system of something wrong will not be provided once chicks asleep. I already had an older brood complain they evenining because they overturned waterer. Waterers will have to be secured better and swapped frequently to contend with freezing solid.

 

[carlf]

I concur that there is no need to separate a broody from the rest of the flock.
My broody hen was the bottom of the pecking order in a flock of three.
Once she started brooding her clutch, it took the other hens one day to figure out they had to go lay somewhere else.
When the peeps hatched, the dominant hen stayed away, she never messed with them.
She was a great mother.
Broody hens hatching peeps is about the coolest thing about keeping chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

This one of three broods (second oldest @ 3.5 weeks) being kept in elevated cages. I almost lost it tonight owing to strong weather event that got them wet. This time they will be ok. If same were happen when colder then outcome would not be so rosy. Hypothermia and complications from prolonged wetness are much more frequent during winter. I will have to make to future precipitation; whether rain, snow, or condensate; does not get on the young birds during winter.

 

[GitaBooks]

I concur that there is no need to separate a broody from the rest of the flock.
My broody hen was the bottom of the pecking order in a flock of three.
Once she started brooding her clutch, it took the other hens one day to figure out they had to go lay somewhere else.
When the peeps hatched, the dominant hen stayed away, she never messed with them.
She was a great mother.
Broody hens hatching peeps is about the coolest thing about keeping chickens.

That's awesome. : )

I hear so many stories like that, where people's flocks get along with young chicks. I've probably had at least a dozen chicks over a few years from a variety of hens, breeds, ages, sizes killed by other hens for a variety of reasons, usually just jealousy, often another mother hen. I've had mother's kill their own chicks, other mother's kill chicks and just random hens kill chicks. Is it because of the large flock size you think? I have about 75 right now. However, they have two huge barns and a shed as well as free range on 10 acres, so space shouldn't be an issue.

 

[centrarchid]

Emphasis may not be best. My hens can rear chicks while commingled with balance of flock. Commingled I might average 4 to 6 chicks per hen reaching weaning age. Keeping hens with chicks isolated for at least first two weeks can increase my average to the range of 6 to 8 chicks per hen reaching weaning age. Where did those other two chicks in the commingled setting go when hatch rates similar? When weather extreme, that complicates things for those younger chicks in particular. You can do a partial isolation where benefits of isolation and commingling can be realized. Confined mother in chick leaky pen so she is in visual and vocal contact with others of flock and so chicks can retreat to her when pressed by larger members of the flock.


Those missing chicks do not appear to be going on some well deserved trip to paradise.

 

[carlf]

The more I read the more I am amazed my mother hen hatched and raised all 11 peeps to 10 weeks. All 5 pullets are now 24 weeks. Cockerels were BBQed a long time ago.
Yeah I think with a larger flock, you just have more chances to have a more aggressive / territorial hen or other mishap. But then think about it this way in nature out of a clutch of 12 eggs 2or 3 might live past the first month and only 1 make it to adulthood. So losing one or two peeps out of a clutch is still a good success rate.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Centrarchid, that sounds like a high mortality rate for broody raised chicks in my experience. What do you think is causing so many chicks to die? Other flock members, predators, or something else?

I’ll tell some of my experiences with broody hens raising chicks with the flock. The most I’ve ever had was 15 chicks with one hen, an incubator hatch that I managed to give to a broody. She raised all of them with the flock. I fairly regularly have broody hens raising anywhere from 4 to 12 chicks with the flock.

About half the time, when the coop is getting pretty crowded, I keep the broody hen and her chicks in a small 4’ x 8’ coop in the run for a couple of days after she brings them off the nest. I always leave it up to the broody when she brings them off the nest. By keeping them locked in that outside coop a couple of days the hen always takes them back there at night so I can lock them up. I only leave them locked in that coop for about two nights, then they are free to roam with the flock.

But about half the time I leave the hen and chicks alone when she brings them off the nest. I put feed on the ground in the main coop where the chicks can get to it. I spread a piece of carpet or put a piece of plywood over the shavings to help keep the shavings out from all the scratching and put a bowl of water filed with small rocks so they can drink. The hen normally keeps the chicks in the coop for a couple of days while the rest of the flock is outside except for the hens coming in to lay. After those couple of days the hen normally takes them out every morning and keeps them out all day. At night she brings them back into the main coop and takes them to a corner to sleep on the ground, not back to a nest.

My outside facilities are a 12’ x 32’ main run, a 4’ x 8’ grow-out coop with its own small run, and a 4’ x 8’ coop inside an area about 45’ x 90’ in electric netting.

In the eight years I’ve kept chickens since moving here, I’ve lost two chicks to other flock members. I once had a one week old chick get inside that grow-out coop/run with a bunch of 8 week old chicks. The broody hen could not get inside to protect the chick. Those 8 week olds killed the chick. I fixed the opening in the gate the chick got through.

One time I had a 2 week old chick kill its hatchmate, another 2 week old chick while the broody hen watched and did nothing. They were locked in that coop in the run and I had not let them out yet that morning. That same chick attacked two other hatchmates with lethal intent. I separated it for a day. After that it quit attacking the other chicks.

That’s it. That is the two times I’ve lost chicks to other flock members. Neither time was to another adult flock member. In one of them the broody hen could not get into the grow-out pen to protect her chick. I’m really not that worried about other adult members of the flock harming the chicks with a broody hen. I understand others have lost chicks to other adult flock members. You are dealing with living animals, about anything can possibly happen. But it’s just not something I worry about.

My broody hens hatch with the flock. One time I had a broody kill a couple of the chicks she hatched. I don’t know why, she raised the rest fine. I was out of town when this happened as she hatched a couple of days early. The chicken sitter saw her attack the chicks so it was her, not another hen.

Another time I had one broody hen attack another broody for possession of the eggs when the chicks inside the eggs internal pipped and started chirping inside the eggs. About half the eggs were destroyed in the fight. After that I don’t allow two broodies at the same time but use my broody buster on one of them. This was a broody hen, not a regular laying flock member.

Some broody hens are pretty laid back and allow their chicks to roam and intermingle with the rest of the flock quite a bit. Others keep their chicks pretty close to them. One problem with the chicks roaming is that until they are about 7 weeks old they can get through the holes in my electric netting. That’s a main reason I keep my brooder raised chicks in my grow-out pen until they are 8 weeks old, so they cannot get through the electric netting. When a broody hen allows her chicks to get outside the netting they are vulnerable to predators. I do occasionally lose a chick outside the netting, I think to a snake. They just disappear. I don’t know if the broody or the rooster would do anything about a snake if they could get to it, snakes are ambush predators and would probably have the chick before the broody or rooster could do anything about it. I usually don’t lose any chicks that broodies raise, but I have had times where I lost two or three out of a brood when the broody lets them go through that netting.

That’s pretty much my experiences with broody hens hatching and raising chicks with the flock. I probably average three broody hens raising chicks with the flock each year and typically raise two broods myself using a brooder. Usually there are no problems with the hatch and no problems with her raising the chicks or me raising the chicks. There are risks using broody hens. There are risks with brooder raised chicks. You are dealing with living animals so you will have risks no matter what you do. Different people have different set-ups and management techniques, we are all going to have different experiences.

 

[carlf]

Great post Ridgerunner.
I'd love to have your setup and flock size, some day!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My basic flock size is one rooster and around eight laying/breeding hens. During the summer I normally top out in the low 40’s then butcher my way back to the basic flock size as they grow. And I try to breed for broody hens. We all have different goals, management techniques, and set-ups. Good luck reaching yours.

 

[centrarchid]

Centrarchid, that sounds like a high mortality rate for broody raised chicks in my experience. What do you think is causing so many chicks to die? Other flock members, predators, or something else?

I’ll tell some of my experiences with broody hens raising chicks with the flock. The most I’ve ever had was 15 chicks with one hen, an incubator hatch that I managed to give to a broody. She raised all of them with the flock. I fairly regularly have broody hens raising anywhere from 4 to 12 chicks with the flock.

About half the time, when the coop is getting pretty crowded, I keep the broody hen and her chicks in a small 4’ x 8’ coop in the run for a couple of days after she brings them off the nest. I always leave it up to the broody when she brings them off the nest. By keeping them locked in that outside coop a couple of days the hen always takes them back there at night so I can lock them up. I only leave them locked in that coop for about two nights, then they are free to roam with the flock.

But about half the time I leave the hen and chicks alone when she brings them off the nest. I put feed on the ground in the main coop where the chicks can get to it. I spread a piece of carpet or put a piece of plywood over the shavings to help keep the shavings out from all the scratching and put a bowl of water filed with small rocks so they can drink. The hen normally keeps the chicks in the coop for a couple of days while the rest of the flock is outside except for the hens coming in to lay. After those couple of days the hen normally takes them out every morning and keeps them out all day. At night she brings them back into the main coop and takes them to a corner to sleep on the ground, not back to a nest.

My outside facilities are a 12’ x 32’ main run, a 4’ x 8’ grow-out coop with its own small run, and a 4’ x 8’ coop inside an area about 45’ x 90’ in electric netting.

In the eight years I’ve kept chickens since moving here, I’ve lost two chicks to other flock members. I once had a one week old chick get inside that grow-out coop/run with a bunch of 8 week old chicks. The broody hen could not get inside to protect the chick. Those 8 week olds killed the chick. I fixed the opening in the gate the chick got through.

One time I had a 2 week old chick kill its hatchmate, another 2 week old chick while the broody hen watched and did nothing. They were locked in that coop in the run and I had not let them out yet that morning. That same chick attacked two other hatchmates with lethal intent. I separated it for a day. After that it quit attacking the other chicks.

That’s it. That is the two times I’ve lost chicks to other flock members. Neither time was to another adult flock member. In one of them the broody hen could not get into the grow-out pen to protect her chick. I’m really not that worried about other adult members of the flock harming the chicks with a broody hen. I understand others have lost chicks to other adult flock members. You are dealing with living animals, about anything can possibly happen. But it’s just not something I worry about.

My broody hens hatch with the flock. One time I had a broody kill a couple of the chicks she hatched. I don’t know why, she raised the rest fine. I was out of town when this happened as she hatched a couple of days early. The chicken sitter saw her attack the chicks so it was her, not another hen.

Another time I had one broody hen attack another broody for possession of the eggs when the chicks inside the eggs internal pipped and started chirping inside the eggs. About half the eggs were destroyed in the fight. After that I don’t allow two broodies at the same time but use my broody buster on one of them. This was a broody hen, not a regular laying flock member.

Some broody hens are pretty laid back and allow their chicks to roam and intermingle with the rest of the flock quite a bit. Others keep their chicks pretty close to them. One problem with the chicks roaming is that until they are about 7 weeks old they can get through the holes in my electric netting. That’s a main reason I keep my brooder raised chicks in my grow-out pen until they are 8 weeks old, so they cannot get through the electric netting. When a broody hen allows her chicks to get outside the netting they are vulnerable to predators. I do occasionally lose a chick outside the netting, I think to a snake. They just disappear. I don’t know if the broody or the rooster would do anything about a snake if they could get to it, snakes are ambush predators and would probably have the chick before the broody or rooster could do anything about it. I usually don’t lose any chicks that broodies raise, but I have had times where I lost two or three out of a brood when the broody lets them go through that netting.

That’s pretty much my experiences with broody hens hatching and raising chicks with the flock. I probably average three broody hens raising chicks with the flock each year and typically raise two broods myself using a brooder. Usually there are no problems with the hatch and no problems with her raising the chicks or me raising the chicks. There are risks using broody hens. There are risks with brooder raised chicks. You are dealing with living animals so you will have risks no matter what you do. Different people have different set-ups and management techniques, we are all going to have different experiences.

A point that must be considered is numbers I give are averages over many years, not cherry picking results. Some broods can yield zero while others can give 17. I see that range most years with many broods each year. I also have a few 12 to 14 chicks per brood which makes you proud when all make it but all they do is pull the average up. Some hens get little or no hatch which can involve something like me dropping a bale on them or kids harvesting eggs. It is nothing to have 20 broody hens at a time a some point in the broody cycle. Most of my broody hens have been producing for more than one season and produce more than one brood per season which allows seeing how hens compare and how things outside the hens control can impact survival.

Primary sources of mortality i deal with are cocci and other weather complicated issues. That is when I invest in dispersing hens which may or may not involve confinement (usually a mix). Predators usually not a major issue. All other sources of loss would be aggravated by hen-hen conflicts plus you would have some chicks directly harmed by hens not their mother.

I( have fighting chickens and American Dominques, breed does not seem to be that important when it comes to conflicts. The conflicts that cause problems most often involve little more than low intensity displacement. The displacements can decrease time hen covers chicks when cold to reducing forage quality.