Have a hen sitting on eggs. Need to know what to do.

[splatsta4]

I've only really begun with my chickens. My ex-wife had lots of farm animals and after we seperated and I realized how attached I was to them is when I finally got some chickens of my own. My question is I have a silkie hen sitting on cochin and mottled houdan eggs. She has been sitting for about a week now. I had someone tell me that when I had a hen start sitting I should remove her and the eggs from the coop. What does everyone else think? The other chickens don't seem to be bothering her. Should I wait until the little ones hatch or should I go ahead and remove her from the coop and if I do will that mess her up?

 

[steve2495]

if the others dont bother her too much u could wait but i would b very careful so that the rest of the flock doesnt kill the chicks. if u have a cage for her she would prbly do fine with them as long as it has a good nest and everything

 

[LauraSBale]

I had 3 go broody, and it was my first time, i tried to move them, and that didn't work, so i let them go back to there nest and the baby's hatched and the other chickens dont bother the baby's, they just stay with there moms and moms protect them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is another thread active on the topic of moving a broody hen. If you have questions after reading this, just respond to this thread. I'll subscribe for a couple of days.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213218

Whether you keep the hen and chicks with the flock or raise them separately, there are plenty of people on this forum that do it both ways. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. I prefer the hen raise the chicks with the flock because the chicks tend to develop better immune systems and Mama takes care of most of the integration issues for them. You are dealing with living animals so anything can happen, but Mama will normally protect her chicks from the other chickens. I consider the danger during integration for chicks raised apart from the flock much greater than the dangers of other chickens harming the chicks in Mama's care. Others will disagree. And part of it depends on your setup. The more room you have the better.