I have two broody hens...

[B2B family farm]

Hello,
I have 45 laying hens and 2 became broody few days ago. They keep sitting in the laying boxes and I am thinking I would actually love for them to raise some babies for us! What do I do? Should I separate them from the flock into their own space (I have a big dog cage I could use) or leaving them in the coop would be ok (but I can't imagine the old girls being ok with the babies...) ? Can these 2 remain together or will they also have a problem with the others' babies? We love when things happen naturally if possible so this would be great to add some babies to our farm... Thank you

 

[BoomChickaPop]

Are they sitting in the same nest?
Moving them to another area is impossible
If you move them they will go right back to their SPOT
You can put eggs under them and mark the eggs to make sure that you can remove eggs that were laid there by other hens and they will hatch them together.
What kind of chickens are the 2 broody hens?

 

[B2B family farm]

They are Orpington and Araucana. I can take them out so they don't go to the same spot. I can keep them completely separate and just give them eggs to sit on... We have roosters so they could be successful...

 

[Pork Pie]

This is just based on my experience:

Since you have so many layers, it may be an idea to put them in separate crates, but keep them inside the main coop - it eases integration later on. The broody hens need space to eat, drink and poop as well as having a nest. And yes, broody hens can be moved with success, assuming they are not actually sitting on eggs at the moment. I have a broody hen and when i block off her favourite nest, she goes to the next nest.

Once hatched, you will need space for the chicks to do their thing. The two mothers may well be fine together and not attack each other's chicks (more likely if you set eggs on the same day), but you would have to watch closely on that one.

The other adult chickens will likely ignore the chicks - mothers are great protectors, but in my experience, adults don't start to put chicks in their place until they are around 4 weeks old (then thats the time, it seems, to teach them some chicken manners).

If you've never hatched chicks with broody mothers before, it may be an idea to let one hatch, and break the broodiness of the other as it will make the learning curve more manageable.

All the best
CT

 

[aart]

I moved my broody to a separate area within the coop but separated by a wire wall, enough space(4' x 6') for nest, feed, water and a place to stretch her legs.

She was not happy, but I gave her a portable floor nest and some fake eggs and within a day she was back setting instead of pacing the wire wall. Then I replaced the fake eggs with fresh fertile eggs and let her go on to successfully hatch all the eggs out.

After all the chicks were strong and eating and drinking I removed the wire wall,
broody got in some fights with higher status hens(chicks were never attacked) but things soon smoothed out as she integrated the chicks into the flock.

There are some management decisions you will have to make, depending on your goals and facilities, and some problems that might occur.
This thread has great insight and a good place to ask advice:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread

 

[BoomChickaPop]

I would put both broody hens together for a successful hatch. When to hens sit on the same nest they take care of the babies together and don't hurt them.
But you do need to put then in their own space away from other chickens that aren't used to babies. Until they are at least 1 month old
I have 2 Japanese bantam hens they look identical and I can only tell them apart from their combs. Twice a year at least they hatch babies together and never hurt them. The babies can't tell their Mom's apart so they follow both Mom's everywhere.
I would keep them together and let them hatch eggs

 

[bobbi-j]

The one time I let two broodies set together, all I ended up with was a bunch of broken or unhatched eggs. Not a single one hatched. I won't do that again. Not saying it won't work for you, that was just my experience. It does go easier if you can integrate the mama with the babies sooner rather than later. If you introduce them when the babies are a week or two old, the broody still has that protective instinct and won't let the other hens mess with her babies. I have also seen a rooster come between the broody and her babies and an aggressive hen. If you wait until the babies are a month old, mama will have lost her protective streak and the babies will basically be on their own, not knowing how to behave in chicken society. If they're integrated younger, they learn their manners sooner and I believe it's an easier lesson.

 

[Pork Pie]

The one time I let two broodies set together, all I ended up with was a bunch of broken or unhatched eggs. Not a single one hatched. I won't do that again. Not saying it won't work for you, that was just my experience. It does go easier if you can integrate the mama with the babies sooner rather than later. If you introduce them when the babies are a week or two old, the broody still has that protective instinct and won't let the other hens mess with her babies. I have also seen a rooster come between the broody and her babies and an aggressive hen. If you wait until the babies are a month old, mama will have lost her protective streak and the babies will basically be on their own, not knowing how to behave in chicken society. If they're integrated younger, they learn their manners sooner and I believe it's an easier lesson.

I agree that the sooner one integrates chicks with the main flock the better. I let mine out of their brooder coop (which is in the main coop) after a couple of days and the adults do not bother with them - i do keep an eye on them to begin with however but mum knows whats best for her chicks. Roos can sometimes also help mum look after chicks, and i have even seen one of my 4 month old pullets play aunt to my last hatch.

CT

 

[centrarchid]

For incubation leave them in their current location as broodiness tends to be very much a location specific activity. If other hens are not trying to lay additional eggs in nest of broody hens then leave as is until hatch. If other hens causing strife or adding eggs to clutch put a barrier up to block other hens if it is practical. I like my incubating hens to get a few feet away from nest each day. Flock in this case relatively large so I suggest that once chicks hatch you provide some level of separation between broods and balance of flock as it will reduce effort broody hen will have to invest in keeping others away from brood and reduce odds chicks will get trampled or exposed to concentrated health issues. As a general rule I try to separate broody hens from each other as that for me increases the average number of chicks weaned per broody hen.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As you can tell, different ones of us have different experiences and different ways to do things. To me it’s not a case of you having to do it one certain way or civilization as we know it will be forever changed, it’s more of a case of how you choose to do it. There are risks, advantages, and disadvantages to all of them. Any of them can be successful, any of them can fail. Dealing with living animals is like that.

Some people let broody hens hatch together and are quite successful, either in the same nest or in separate nests with or without the same hatch days. Often the broody hens that hatch together work really well together to hatch and raise the chicks. To me, the advantage of this method is that they look cute and maybe it is more convenient for you.

But occasionally it does not work out. Sometimes the hens fight over the eggs or chicks. Eggs or chicks might get hurt. I had two broody hens on separate nests with hatch days over two weeks apart. When the first broody’s eggs started internal pipping and the chicks started chirping inside the eggs, the second broody abandoned her nest and fought the first broody over the eggs that were pipping. Half the eggs were destroyed. I’m not a fan of letting two broody hens hatch together. You can try it. It might work out great but then again, it might not. You don’t get guarantees with living animals.

Hens have been hatching and raising chicks with the flock since there were chickens. There are some risks with this but they are not extinct. It normally works out. If you go this route, mark the eggs you want her to hatch (I use a black Sharpie but others use something different) and start all the eggs at the same time. Then every day after the others have laid eggs, check under the broody and remove any eggs that don’t belong. As long as you remove them every day, they are still good to eat. Other hens might or might not lay eggs in her nest. If you leave the new eggs in there they will not hatch because incubation started later plus, if they build up to numbers the hen cannot cover them, you probably won’t get a lot of the old eggs to hatch. They will cool off and die if she cannot cover them all.

If you decide to isolate a broody hen from the flock fix up a cage where she cannot leave and other hens cannot get to her nest. Put in a nest (I find a dark nest works better than one in bright light), feed and water, and just a little extra room. A broody hen knows to not poop in her nest and mess up her eggs but she doesn’t know to not poop in feed or water. You’ll probably be changing the feed and water on a regular basis so give yourself reasonable access. I do not isolate my broody hens but I have moved them from one nest to another. It’s normally best to move her at night.

I generally leave my broody hens alone when they hatch. Mama knows a lot more about that than me, even if it is her first hatch. She seems to know instinctively when the hatch is over and it is time to bring the chicks off the nest. I’ve had hens bring the chicks off within 24 hours of the first one hatching, I’ve had hens wait about four days to bring them off. Each hatch is unique. The hen talks to the unhatched chicks after they internal pip so she can tell when the hatch is over. Chickens have been doing this by instinct since chickens were chickens. They are just better doing this than I am.

I leave my broody hens with the flock to raise their chicks. All I do is provide food and water where the chicks can get to them. I put rocks in the water bowls so the chicks can walk on the rocks instead of fall in the bowls and drown. And I clean out the old nest, throwing away all the trash and old bedding. The broody hen normally keeps the chicks in the coop a day or two before she takes them outside. Once she starts taking them outside, they pretty much spend all day every day outside. At night she normally takes them to a corner of the coop where they sleep on the floor.

My dominant roosters are never a threat to the chicks. They see these as their babies as long as they see them when they are still fairly young and before they are old enough to be seen as rivals. Sometimes the dominant rooster helps Mama take care of their babies, sometimes not, but mine have never threatened them.

Most of my hens aren’t much of a threat either. If a chick invades the older hen’s private space that hen is likely to peck it to teach it that it is bad chicken etiquette to bother your betters. It’s not an “I’m going to kill you” peck but more of a “Go away kid, you bother me”. It’s still enough to send the chick running back to the broody, who usually ignores this. But if that hen follows the chick to reinforce the lesson, Mama politely whips butt. No one threatens her babies.

Occasionally you get a hen that is a brute and will try to harm the chicks. Some broodies are more protective than others. I’ve never had a broody hen that would not protect her babies. I’ve never lost a chick to another adult flock member when a broody hen can protect her babies, but others have. They are living animals, they don’t come with guarantees. Immature cockerels are probably more dangerous than mature hens but Mama has no trouble taking care of immature cockerels. Most seem to enjoy it.

One key to this which Centrarchid sort of alluded to, in all this Mama needs some room to work with. If you have them shoehorned into a small space your risks go up. But if Mama doesn’t have enough room to work with, you are highly likely to have challenges when you integrate them yourself. Like everything else to do with chickens, more space is better than less space.

I like for the broody hen to raise the chicks with the flock. In my opinion the chicks learn better how to be chickens and Mama handles integration. She does not handle the pecking order issues. They will have to handle those themselves. After Mama weans them and until they are old enough to force their way into the flock hierarchy, they will almost certainly form a sub-flock and avoid the adult chickens as much as they can. Once the pullets start laying eggs they are normally mature enough to make their way into the pecking order. The cockerels are a whole other story. I’m not even going to try to cover them here. I have had hens wean their chicks at three weeks in the heat of summer and leave them alone to make their way with the flock. They did great.
For their own reasons, some people like to isolate the hen and chicks from the flock, either for the short term or until they have to reintegrate the broody and maybe later the chicks themselves. Some people take chicks away from the broody and raise them themselves. I’ll give you one warning but this posts too long already. If others want to talk about that, they can.

If you isolate a hen and her chicks, make sure the chicks cannot escape the protection of the broody hen. The other flock members can be a danger to the chicks if Mama is not there to protect them.

To sum up, there is no right way or wrong way to do any of this. We all do it differently for our own reasons. And the more room you can give them the better, but that is true with practically anything to do with chickens.

Good luck!