Thank you. This is very well-written and helpful. The hardest part for me with a hen hatching is when they turn mean to their chicks at 4-6 weeks. It just breaks my heart.Hi Ceecee23, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.
You'll get different answers from different people. Some of us never do, some always do. We have different set-ups with immense difference in space, different management techniques, and different flock mixes. Each chicken has its own individual personality. Just because something works for me does not mean it will work for everyone else every time.
The more room they have the better, both inside the coop and outside. Mama needs enough room to work. Most broody hens will defend their chicks from other chickens. Almost always this is another hen, but might possibly be a rooster. My roosters either help Mama take care of the flock or ignore them but others on here have reported a rooster attacked baby chicks. After initial curiosity most of my hens ignore baby chicks unless the chicks invade their personal space. Then the chicks are likely to get pecked to show them that it is bad chick manners to invade the personal space of their betters. Occasionally a hen will try to injure a chick but my broody hens take care of that.
A story I've seen play out a few times, usually when the chicks are about 2 weeks old. A chick leave Mama's protection and go to eat at a common feeder next to the other hens. The hens may ignore the chick at first but it is usually not long before one pecks it to punish it for bad manners. The chick immediately runs back to Mama as fast as her little legs can carry her with those little wings flapping. Mama tends to ignore this, it takes a village to raise a child. But on the occasions a hen starts following that running chick Mama whips butt. Nobody threatens her babies. Not all broody hens protect their chicks like this but mine do. Each chicken and each set-up is different.
My broody hens tend to keep the chicks separate from the flock most of the time. If space is tight she can't do that so the chicks are much more likely to get pecked or attacked by another hen. That's part of why space is so important.
My hens hatch in nests 2' or 4' above the coop floor. I've seen a hen get chicks out of a 10 feet (3 m) high hay loft where they hatched. She said jump and they did, then bounced up and ran to her. My hens don't have a problem getting their chicks out of the nests but they don't go back to those nests. At night they have the chicks sleep on the coop floor until they are ready to roost. Again, it helps to have enough room that they can do this. If you have a nest or shelter on the floor the broody might or might not take them there.
My pop door is about a foot above the coop floor and the outside. The chicks cannot jump that high to get in or out so I build a set of stairs inside and outside with of paving stones I had laying around. The broody typically keeps the chicks in the coop for two or three days and then leads them outside in the morning and keeps them outside all day until bedtime, when she takes them to sleep on the coop floor.
I don't always do it like this. When my coop is getting crowded I wait until the hen brings her chicks off of the nest and then lock them in a shelter out in the run for two nights and three days. Then I let the hen and chicks free to roam in the run with the other chickens during the day. At night the hen takes them back to the shelter to sleep instead of sleeping inside the coop. I can lock that shelter for predator protection. By being raised with the flock the chicks can take care of themselves with the flock. They simply avoid the adults, but I have enough room they can do that.
Few people on here have the room I do. They cannot let a broody raise the chicks in the coop with the rest of the flock. Their situation is different from mine so it takes different solutions. That may involve leaving them separate so long that the human has to integrate the chicks when they are old enough instead of letting the broody do it.
I know I'm repeating a lot of what I already wrote in this old thread. It is an old thread and many people don't bother reading old posts, especially long ones. There is nothing wrong with reopening an old post but often you get more attention and better responses by opening your own thread. Just something to keep in mind for future questions.
Again, I'm glad you joined.
