How long can Mama be away from the babies

[ECiesielczyk]

My broody Mama hen has almost finished hatching her eggs. If I remove her for 30 minutes or so (I need to wash her for lice) can I then return her to the bin without her losing her mama-ing wants? i.e. will she still play mama hen or will that snap her out of it? Will the babies (with a heat light) be ok without her for the 30 minutes?

 

[Alaskan]

Oh! Am sorry nobody answered you!

What did you do?

Did the broody continue to be a good mama?

 

[ECiesielczyk]

I did almost nothing. I pulled the nits off as best as I could and used some wood ash under the baby's wings. I used a little wood ash on the mama too but I didn't giver her a full dust bath or anything. We started letting them outside together at 1 1/2 weeks and the mama has been dusting and so have the babies. They stil have some lice but the rest of the flock's lice cleared up and there doesn't seem to be a problem yet. They don't have mites, only a little lice so we are waiting to see what happens at this point.

I did post this on another thread but the only answers I got were to use chemicals, which aren't an option for us as we practice organic gardening and I am pregnant and nursing so most things I cannot handle.

The mama has been AWESOME so far and we are hoping that these new babies won't have any issues being part of the flock. Some nights they all sleep in the coop but if it is really rainy or we aren't going to be home the next day, we have been keeping them in the house (in a bin) so that they aren't stuck in the enclosure with the other big girls.

 

[Alaskan]

That sounds so lovely!

Protect that broody with your life! I LOVE a good broody!

If there is lots of space, the broody will probably be able to protect the chicks from the rest of the flock. Which means they can all be together which equals much less work for you. YEAH! Do watch them though, because sometimes another hen or the rooster will get nasty and try to steal and kill the chicks.

And yep, I am with you, wood ash can be a great help.

I think if you set up a dust bath for them, and put some food grade DE in the wood ash, it might help knock back the parasites even more.

But, as my father always says (he is an MD), "everyone has worms, even I have worms. The question you need to ask is how many worms, and what kinds of worms"

But that applies to all parasites. A few lice are no problem.

(Totally laughing here) on humans you can coat your head in oil or mayonnaise to help to smother the lice and nits. But to do that to chickens!

 

[ECiesielczyk]

Exactly! There seems to be only one hen willing to challenge the broody but she seems to be content helping her with the chicks. The only real reason we separate them (instead of confining them all) is because we have a rather small run as we are usually free range.

This broody is a first timer. A fox came and got all but her, three 10 week olds and one other hen that the fox seriously injured. She walked into the coop that day, laid an egg and was almost instantly broody. Got to love nature. We got her the hatching eggs and the rest is history. About 2 weeks before the eggs hatched though he added 7 more 7-week olds and three laying hens. So they have all been around each other for about a month, hence the separation when they aren't able to leave the run.

My husband set up a good dusting bath inside their run (before it was outside but tiwth all the rain we have been getting...) and that seemed to cure the others. Once the mama and babies could go outside, we kept them locked in the coop for the first couple of days but now we let them all free range. I will prbably wash this hen anyway once she separates from the chicks a little (usually around 5 weeks) just to clear up anything left and thendust the babies a little.

I have used coconut oil on the nits in the past to help smother them and it seemed to help me remove them but this time, I can't get the broody to stop fussing long enough to really coat her well.

 

[ECiesielczyk]

p.s. here is the other thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/788827/new-eggs-and-lice#post_11384380

 

[Alaskan]

And coconut oil will keep her youthful looking! helps to reduce wrinkles you know!