Integrating a cockerel into a flock of mature hens

[islandgirl82]

Quote:
This behavior of sleeping in the nest is new. It began when one of the other hens who was molting started doing so. The Dom hens (both are 2+ years old) from the main flock joined her but after the one who started it passed on, they went back to sleeping on the roosts until just a few nights ago when this one went back to sleeping in the nest. One of these girls has gone broody before and has hatched a clutch at their previous home. If it were one of the pullets, I wouldn't think much of this behavior but the pullets are all very happy to be roosting and often just hang out on their roost even during the day when they could be outside. I really don't want anyone sleeping in the nests if they're not broody so if this one isn't and is just avoiding drama, I need to be making changes in my coop.

 

[aart]

I let a broody hatch in winter, it was a frigid winter too. Tho got lucky on hatch day we had a warm snap of 38F.
We had lows of -10 to 12F and many days in the single digits...but those little buggers were hopping around in those temps, not for long - but still.

I did have her separated from flock in a 4x6 area and didn't take down barrier until weeks were 2 weeks old just to make sure they were strong.
There were 3 hellacious hen fights when broody had to reenter the pecking order, but that was short lived and chicks were never in danger.
They slept in their nest and I had a creep area for chicks feed/water.

It worked out fine, but don't think I'd do it again, not in Jan/Feb anyway...toting water to them multiple times a day was a pain.
...and I do think the chicks little toes may have gotten a tad frostbit, I still have 3 of those birds and they have some funky toes.

Here's the whole story:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/947046/broody-in-michigan-winter

 

[lazy gardener]

Does she have any eggs under her? If you gave her 6 fakes, that might tell the story re: if she is truly broody, or just thinking about it, or just avoiding roost drama. The fact that she is not pooping in the nest over night leads me to think that she is dancing with broodiness. Is she doing the broody cluck? Puffing up her feathers? Looks like a pancake when she's on the nest? When off the nest, doing the broody cluck? Of course, incubating artificially is an other option, and perhaps a very good option under your circumstances IF you are willing to deal with winter brooding. Have you checked out Blooie's article about out door brooding with Mama Heating Pad? Of course, you could also give these girls time to settle in, get their systems beefed up so they will have the best to give to their egglets, and hatch out some spring Ichabod babies. Ah, the decisions we are forced to make!!!!

 

[islandgirl82]

Given my excitement at the prospect of babies, I don't think I'd mind a winter hatch...at least not the first time around and any pullets hatched from this bunch would/should be ready for laying around May; early enough in the year to hatch Ichabod babies from all the Doms or provide hatching eggs to others *ehem* from a greater selection.

The lack of droppings in the nest is what made broodiness even cross my mind. She's very flat in the box at night, the fronts of the boxes are about 7" high and I don't see her at all, I have to actually reach my hand down in to touch her and she purrs when I pet everyone goodnight. Yesterday was chilly and they were all walking around a bit more puffed up than usual so it's difficult to tell based on that but she was unusually indecisive about where she wanted to be and was make more noise than usual but it wasn't a distressed sound. I'm not sure what the broody cluck is but I'm sure I'll find a video on youtube that will help me decipher the sounds of a broody.

I've been reading through Blooie's MHP thread for a while and have also seen some posts about Wool Mamas. Both are very intriguing but I'd definitely be going the MHP method...or a mix of the two. If I'm going to incubate and brood artificially, I'll be moving the small coop to the front porch, sheltered from the elements and closer to outlets for running the heating pad and conveniently placed for keeping an eye on them.

 

[lazy gardener]

Given my excitement at the prospect of babies, I don't think I'd mind a winter hatch...at least not the first time around and any pullets hatched from this bunch would/should be ready for laying around May; early enough in the year to hatch Ichabod babies from all the Doms or provide hatching eggs to others *ehem* from a greater selection.

The lack of droppings in the nest is what made broodiness even cross my mind. She's very flat in the box at night, the fronts of the boxes are about 7" high and I don't see her at all, I have to actually reach my hand down in to touch her and she purrs when I pet everyone goodnight. Yesterday was chilly and they were all walking around a bit more puffed up than usual so it's difficult to tell based on that but she was unusually indecisive about where she wanted to be and was make more noise than usual but it wasn't a distressed sound. I'm not sure what the broody cluck is but I'm sure I'll find a video on youtube that will help me decipher the sounds of a broody.

I've been reading through Blooie's MHP thread for a while and have also seen some posts about Wool Mamas. Both are very intriguing but I'd definitely be going the MHP method...or a mix of the two. If I'm going to incubate and brood artificially, I'll be moving the small coop to the front porch, sheltered from the elements and closer to outlets for running the heating pad and conveniently placed for keeping an eye on them.

 

[islandgirl82]

@aart , thank you for posting the thread to your experience. It's given me even more to think about.

Maine winters, at least on the coast, typically start off fairly mild, mostly NW winds (which we're quite sheltered from right here) but we're lucky to have even a dusting of snow for the year end/new year Holidays. We typically have a January thaw but February and March is when winter really hits us. If I have my time frame correct, say I set eggs in a week, they'd be 10-11 weeks going into February when our weather is most severe. Weather predictions for New England this winter aren't great (at all) but the worst of it won't really set in until then...so they say. That age at that time seems manageable to me.

I also see that if this hen is broody and I choose to keep her isolated within the coop, I have a few adjustments to make to accomodate such a situation.

I found your observations with your broody rejoining the flock with her babies to be very interesting and reiterates my gut feelings on the two bullies I have here. They waste no time instigating fights and being the last chicks who we raised here, I have no idea how they would respond to babies but I think it would not be good. I've been waiting (for Ichabod's sake and our egg supply) to cull them until the new pullets are ready to join the main flock and I will most definitely be doing so before any chicks are introduced, no matter who hatches and broods them or when.

 

[Sylvester017]

This behavior of sleeping in the nest is new. It began when one of the other hens who was molting started doing so. The Dom hens (both are 2+ years old) from the main flock joined her but after the one who started it passed on, they went back to sleeping on the roosts until just a few nights ago when this one went back to sleeping in the nest. One of these girls has gone broody before and has hatched a clutch at their previous home. If it were one of the pullets, I wouldn't think much of this behavior but the pullets are all very happy to be roosting and often just hang out on their roost even during the day when they could be outside. I really don't want anyone sleeping in the nests if they're not broody so if this one isn't and is just avoiding drama, I need to be making changes in my coop.

Sleeping in the nest was what my heavily molting hens would do. Molting chickens get reclusive, have loss of appetite and will stay away from the other hens. Molting hens are uncomfortable and don't have the energy or personality to do regular daily routines and will act almost sick. I had a White Leghorn, a Buff Leghorn, and both Silkies that went reclusive when they were molting and they were often hiding in the coop or in a nestbox to stay away from the flock. My White Leghorn was reclusive for 3 months taking all that time to molt and regrow feathers and then joined the flock to take back her alpha hen status. The Buff Leghorn took 6 weeks to hide out in a nestbox. The trick is to decipher why a hen is hiding out in a nestbox -- molting or brooding. So frustrating sometimes because I don't speak "chicken" to know why they do what they do sometimes.

 

[islandgirl82]

I know molting was the reason why the one who passed began sleeping the boxes but the two Dom girls had already finished their molt when they took to the boxes, then stopped, then the one started up again. I think the reasons have been narrowed down to either avoidance of drama or brink of broodiness. Either way, I need to be making some adjustments in the coop to accommodate the flock better.

 

[aart]

@aart , thank you for posting the thread to your experience. It's given me even more to think about.

Maine winters, at least on the coast, typically start off fairly mild, mostly NW winds (which we're quite sheltered from right here) but we're lucky to have even a dusting of snow for the year end/new year Holidays. We typically have a January thaw but February and March is when winter really hits us. If I have my time frame correct, say I set eggs in a week, they'd be 10-11 weeks going into February when our weather is most severe. Weather predictions for New England this winter aren't great (at all) but the worst of it won't really set in until then...so they say. That age at that time seems manageable to me.

I also see that if this hen is broody and I choose to keep her isolated within the coop, I have a few adjustments to make to accomodate such a situation.

I found your observations with your broody rejoining the flock with her babies to be very interesting and reiterates my gut feelings on the two bullies I have here. They waste no time instigating fights and being the last chicks who we raised here, I have no idea how they would respond to babies but I think it would not be good. I've been waiting (for Ichabod's sake and our egg supply) to cull them until the new pullets are ready to join the main flock and I will most definitely be doing so before any chicks are introduced, no matter who hatches and broods them or when.

You just never know how live animals will behave....once you think you've got it figured out, something changes and they take you completely by surprise with some 'abnormal' behavior. Just gotta keep watching and researching and being flexible.

I would have never been able to let the broody sit if I didn't have the 'coop partition' designed in from the get go, it has proved to be invaluable.
Wish I had a couple more...hahaha!

The fights were with 'top of the order' birds, a couple were just meanies, trying to put broody back in her place in the middle.
The younger birds were fine with broody(and she with them) and the chicks.
Tho as the chicks got older, and I noticed this with my integrated young (4wks) chicks this year, the pecking order became more obvious.

 

[islandgirl82]

Quote:
My RSLs are meanies and I can foresee them behaving the same as yours did when a broody with chicks returns to the flock. There's nothing peaceful about them, unlike the rest of the flock and they don't coexist well with anyone but each other. Ichabod had to work at putting them in their place and often times would just stand on them to reiterate that he's not going to tolerate their bullying anymore. They treated him far worse than anyone when he joined the flock and they're the only ones I've seen him stand on like that.

When I started raising chickens, I never intended on keeping a rooster and having chicks to hatch so my coop is not designed with proper accommodations. I've been unhappy with it for a while even without having a rooster and future offspring from my existing flock. I am continuously reworking my design for a new one and definitely need to include space within it for broodies.