How do you let moms raise babies?

[Jtaranc]

I have 3 BCM that are broody right now. I have marked some eggs and let them keep them, our set up is different though. Our lay boxes are in a big elevated part and its a steep ramp to climb. Im afraid once the babies hatch they will fall and get hurt.

We have a flock of 26 hens and 2 roosters. Our BCM rooster stays with the BCM girls and our RIR rooster manages the rest of the flock. They dont fight but the RIR roo will let the younger BCM know whos his and who isnt. Should the mamas be separate from everyone once the babies hatch?

We are willing to add on to the coop for the moms to have a separate section.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

You have a couple problems actually. The first is that you need to separate the broodies from each other. The second problem is that they need to be in a place that will be safe for the chicks once they hatch. So you need to decide if you want to actually let all three brood or just one. If I were you I would build a safe space for one broody where she can still be part of the flock and get out to eat and drink, etc, and then move one hen and her eggs to that spot. If she stays and keeps sitting then break the other two. Sometimes a broody won’t continue to set if moved. So with three hens one might choose to set in the new spot.

 

[Pigeony]

I don't separate my broodies from each other. If the birds get along alright, they'll potentially co-brood when babies hatch. It does have its risks, but I think it's worth it and those risks can be reduced with careful observation and swift action if it seems like the babies are in genuine danger. I currently have 3 broodies co-parenting a whopping 26 babies. I do separate the moms from the flock though, at least through the egg and early hatchling phases, because it prevents other hens from pushing them out to lay their own eggs or otherwise bullying. I only keep them separate long enough to bond, because it's crucial to let the moms introduce their babies to the flock in the first couple weeks in my opinion, that way the broody hormones are still high and they teach the other hens that those babies are not to be messed with. Plus chickens are less harsh on babies than teenage chickens. Once they're out on their own and mom is no longer protecting them, they'll be integrated and will know the laws of chicken society.

 

[AinaWGSD]

The babies probably wouldn't be hurt by the fall, but if mom hasn't come off the nest yet (for example if there were still eggs in the process of hatching) she won't be able to protect them from the rest of the flock. And they may have trouble navigating the ramp, which could cause mom to leave the babies uncovered if she goes back to the nest at night. That's what happened with my broody the first day she brought the babies off the nest. Fortunately my husband checked on them before closing up for the night and was able to pop them back into the nest with mama to warm up.

What is working for us is to create a separate area for the broody to brood the eggs and get a few days to bond with the chicks before she has to worry about protecting them from the rest of the flock. My nest box is on the ground, so I just had to add a few pieces of scrap lumber so the babies could get in and out of the nest

 

[fluffycrow]

Tending to live animals, one doesn’t get any guarantees. Much less in the case of brooding, where every female is different, and every brooding attempt (from the same hen, sometimes) is different.

So far, I have only ever had successful broods in the bantam pen. That pen has multiple females of different ages, and most are related to eachother. They have always been cared for by a single male. All the females in that pen (with the exception of the youngest pullet) have gone broody, and have co-brooded and/or co-raised chicks.

The co-brooding and co-raising system seems to work very well here, with experienced hens and inexperienced hens raising batches together, as well as high ranking hens with low-ranking pullets raising chicks together. The males so far have been excellent fathers, looking after the chicks and imprinting quickly on them. The rest of the hens don’t seem to bother the chicks at all; a few reprimanding pecks are to be expected, but not a single hen has targeted the chicks here, even the overly mean head hen of the group. Even adult birds from other groups (back when the bantam group free ranged) never seemed to target the chicks, but rather fought with the mother.

No one can say for sure what will happen with your birds. I would trust your broodies to know what they are doing. If you see that things are not working out, either with the co-brooding/raising or with the rest of the group, then you should separate.

The chicks so far don’t seem to venture far from mum when in the nest. Staggered hatches are avoided, so the chicks almost never have more than a days age difference. If your hatch is staggered, it is likely that the hen(s) will abandon the nest in favour of their oldest chicks. This is where having co-broodies could help. Splitting duties is quite common with them.

If your girls are making it works so far, it is definitely a good sign. One won’t know for sure until the chicks are here, and possibly more active. Hopefully they all get along, as they do now.

As for the accessibility of your setup, pictures would really help. Chicks are tougher than we think, but we can’t know for sure how they’ll take to it, or how careful the mums will/can be

 

[K0k0shka]

I don't separate broodies from each other if I decide to let more than one brood. They can be wonderful co-parents, and if they are first-timers and you don't know how reliable they are, then you'll have back-ups. One year I decided to let two hens brood together - an experienced mama hen, and a first-timer. They got along great and raised the chicks together, but the inexperienced one made a lot of mistakes and gave up too early, when the chicks were 2-3 weeks old. The experienced one picked up the slack, then adopted the other one's chicks and finished them all off together. If I didn't have the experienced one as a back up, I would've had to step in and probably bring them into the house at night, as it was still cold outside and they weren't fully feathered yet. Not every broody will actually make a good mom, so each new one you let sit, is a risk. If you have more than one, at least you have a better chance that at least one of them will do the job well.

I also don't separate the broodies from the flock. I just move them to the ground so the chicks don't fall off a high box when they hatch. Sometimes, if I have one broody, I'll set her up in a dog crate inside the coop until the chicks are 2-3 days old and able to follow her outside, just to make sure the other hens aren't trying to lay in her nest and trample the babies. But after day 3 or so, I remove the crate and they mingle freely with the flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have 3 BCM that are broody right now. I have marked some eggs and let them keep them, our set up is different though. Our lay boxes are in a big elevated part and its a steep ramp to climb. Im afraid once the babies hatch they will fall and get hurt.

I've seen a broody hen get chicks down from a 10 feet (3 meter) high hayloft. She said jump and they did, then bounced up and ran to her. My nests are 2 feet or 4 feet above the coop floor. Broody hens hatch in them all of the time. After the hatch is over the broody brings then out of the nest. It is too high for the chicks to get back up there so she just settles down on the coop floor when it is bedtime or when they need to warm up.

One time I let a hen go broody in a cat litter bucket. The top of that bucket was 7-1/2" x 11-1/2" (19 cm x 29 cm). That broody hen was sitting so close to the edge of the bucket that when a chick climbed up on her back and them fell off, it missed the nest and fell 4 feet (1.3 m) to the coop floor. Four different times I picked a chick up from the coop floor (probably the same chick) and put it back in the nest. That chick was not injured in that fall. That's the only time I've had a chick fall out of a nest. My other nests are bigger and built differently. I don't know what your nest looks like.

You said your coop is elevated. Mine is on the ground so no chance of a chick falling out. I don't know what your coop looks like or how big of a danger a chick falling out is.

At some point the hen will take her chicks outside. Them getting out is probably not a problem for you. At bedtime the hen will most likely want her chicks to return to the coop to sleep. What can happen the first few nights is that the hen goes to the top of the ramp and calls her chicks. Some might go to the bottom of the ramp and walk up (follow her up), but some are highly likely to go under her and still be at ground level. They don't know to go to the bottom of the ramp and walk up so they are stuck. At dusk when they are going to bed you need to be out there to help if needed.

I do not isolate a broody hen and her eggs or chicks. Some people do. There are a lot of different ways of going about any of this. Your set-up may determine that one way is better than another. If I had one of those teeny tiny 4 ft x 4 ft elevated coops what I do would not work.

Should the mamas be separate from everyone once the babies hatch?

I let mine hatch and raise with the flock. I have a lot of room in the coop and outside. Mama has enough room to do her job. If your facilities are tight, she may not have enough room so separation may be a good thing. But if things are that tight, you may have a real problem when you try to integrate them later.

I don't know enough about what you are working with to be able to make any real suggestions as to what you need to do. My preference is to let the hen raise them with the flock and handle integration herself instead of me having to do that. My flock and facilities are set up so that can happen.

 

[K0k0shka]

The outcomes of the following two examples depend highly on the hen and her skill/instinct/intelligence level. I've had it go either way with different hens in these exact scenarios:

After the hatch is over the broody brings then out of the nest. It is too high for the chicks to get back up there so she just settles down on the coop floor when it is bedtime or when they need to warm up.

My most reliable broody, who was great from the start, won't attempt to bring the chicks back up to a high place after they first leave the nest. She'll settle for the night on the floor at first. She does, however, teach them how to roost on the tallest roost with the big chickens by week 2 - but if any can't make it up, she stays on the floor with all the chicks. By comparison, another broody I used a couple of years ago, went to the top roost right away, leaving her chicks screaming alone OUTSIDE in the dark. I had to bring her a** down and stuff them under her for several nights until she got the point.

What can happen the first few nights is that the hen goes to the top of the ramp and calls her chicks. Some might go to the bottom of the ramp and walk up (follow her up), but some are highly likely to go under her and still be at ground level. They don't know to go to the bottom of the ramp and walk up so they are stuck.

My grown chickens hop up to the middle of the ramp from the side, as opposed to walking up from the bottom. When my good broody does this and sees that the chicks can't hop from the side, she walks back down to the bottom of the ramp to meet them there, then walks up from the bottom so they can follow. The other broody in my first example will hop up from the side near the top, go in and forget about the chicks. Needless to say, after that one frustrating brood, she's not allowed to be a mom anymore.