Hen hatching & raising her own

[equinealot]

How old does a hen have to be to be broody & raise her own chicks? Do You have to separate her or keep her with her group? esp after they hatch.

 

[gryeyes]

Very few hens actually go broody. I thought they all did, before I had chickens and learned more about them. But it's not so. I have a flock of 50 hens and pullets and have had less than ten hens go broody.

But, for those that DO go broody, some of mine went broody a month after they started to lay and one didn't go broody until she was 3 years old. Totally unexpected, especially because she is a hatchery RIR and had never showed any signs of it prior to then.

I let my broody hens raise their chicks in the main coop, or sometimes I move them to a separate, segregation coop until the chicks are a couple of weeks old.