Hen raised vs. Brooder

[Xtradust]

Chicks under a hen don't eat at night. (yes?)

My "brooder raised chicks" eat 24/7.

I'm sure some of you have pulled chicks from under a hen and raised them inside, while the hen took care of the others.

Do the brooder chicks turn out heavier or do the hen-chicks make it up somewhere else?

I would love to hear all about it.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[jimnjay]

I don't know about the brooder raised being fatter, possibly. I have noticed that the mama raised chicks are less people friendly and take a bit longer to really tame. In my Silkies the ones that I have raised inside are very tame and I have a bit of trouble handling the grown birds that mama raised unless I isolate them for a while and handle them daily.

 

[Xtradust]

Ain't it the truth.

I have a split brooder right now (my eyes were bigger than my brooder) and one set of chicks were started by a hen for maybe a month and the other were pulled from the hen as soon as they hatched.

The Hen-chicks are sketchy and can get easily freaked if I move towards them to quickly.

But, the other chicks probably think I'm the hen and are super mellow.

I'm hoping the brooder-chicks will rub off on the hen-chicks.

I find that all chicks are kind of flighty. Mine don't seem to appreciate me until they're a couple of months old and in the coop.

Matt

 

[silkiechicken]

As for weight, I find hen raised birds grow a bit slower, but reach the same adult weight. Sure are much more skittish raised by momma hen though.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

My broody raised skiddish chicks around me and were alittle thinner...the brooder chicks are friendly and have alittle more weight on them...when mature they seem to weigh in about the same....still skiddish tho...

 

[Xtradust]

It just seems like such a difference between the two eating patterns.

Also, the hen-chicks I brought inside are doing a lot better than they were. I don't think the hen bothered with the commercial feed. Now that they have 24/7 access, they seem healthier.

Thanks for all your replies!

Matt