Hen missing her babies???

[Asaria1]

Hello all,

My hen went broody in July and hatched two babies in August. Both of those babies grew up to be boys, and I rehomed them 4 days ago. Today, that same hen went broody again. Could it be because she misses her babies? Could she want more babies to fill that “void”?
I really dont want more babies, but it breaks my heart to think she’s “yearning” for some little ones. If that’s the case, i will slip two fertile eggs under her. But if she will be fine without babies, i’d rather not expand my flock.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

No, she just knows that she is no longer caring for offspring and can thus raise more. What breed is she? She's not brooding because she is wanting kids. That emotion is really only human felt

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I had a bantam hen (Lucille) who hatched out three standard sized chicks that turned out to be all roosters. They quickly grew bigger than her and I feared that they would hurt her. Soon it came time for me to re-home all my extra roosters, and her son's went with them and I placed her back into her flock. The hen cried for days! She went from almost the top of the pecking order to the bottom almost instantly! That was her second batch that she's ever had, but she never really recovered from it. She went into a life-long depression and never went broody again.
Your hen is probably trying to replace her chicks. Her natural instinct that said "keep the flock going" is probably taking over. With my bantams, they raised their chicks till the chicks were much older than the average chick when it leaves it's mother. So also, your hen might of been trying to stay with her chicks until they were older.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

For future reference, I always try to leave at least one chick with mama to naturally wean off

 

[Lovesumchicks]

I'm going through the same thing. She has been away from her chicks for 2 weeks now and she is depressed stays in the corner all day and night no one likes her in the coop anymore either.

 

[Lovesumchicks]

For future reference, I always try to leave at least one chick with mama to naturally wean off

That's a really good idea.

 

[Asaria1]

No, she just knows that she is no longer caring for offspring and can thus raise more. What breed is she? She's not brooding because she is wanting kids. That emotion is really only human felt

She is a silkie

 

[JacinLarkwell]

She is a silkie

Those birds constantly brood. Ots just their genetics

 

[Asaria1]

What should i do??? I dont want her to be depressed. It might have been too early and maybe she wasnt ready to wean off of them yet, but they were starting to crow, and my neighbor would not be happy! They weren’t sleeping together anymore. And they seemed to be independent of each other when they were out ranging the yard. I feel awful now. Did i act too soon? Will she be depressed? Shall i replace the babies with new eggs? Or should i try to go back and get at least ONE of her baby boys back? Maybe get rid of him later when he is crowing louder? I feel so bad for this momma.

 

[Asaria1]

Those birds constantly brood. Ots just their genetics

Im getting responses from both sides of the spectrum, and i’m going back and forth between feel awful, and feeling okay about it. Hahahaha