Letting hen raise chicks with half of the flock

[downekc09]

Hello! We have ordered some eggs for our broody hen to lay on, and she started laying on them yesterday! This is our first time to hopefully having chicks, so we are super excited! We have decided to let her of course lay on the eggs instead of using an incubator, and we want to let her raise the chicks as well. I would like opinions about my idea of how to let her raise the chicks with the rest of our flock.

We have 17 total hens (no roosters) that we let free range during the day. Right now the coop is like 12' x 12', and we have the ability to put up a door inside that splits the coop in half, but they can all still see each other (chainlink fence with chicken wire on bottom 3ft). Each half has its own outside door, food, water, and nesting boxes. My idea was this: Split the coop in half, keep some chickens in half with the mama hen and chicks so the chicks are raised with them also, and fence up a run outside of their door so that the chicks are safer from predators outside. The other half of the coop will have the other half of the flock which can still free range outside and have layer feed and we can still eat their eggs.

I hope this makes sense... would that be okay to have chicks with half of the flock? I was hoping that would make it easier for the chicks (and us) being with at least some of the flock, and also still let us have some eggs to eat. My worry is introducing the chicks to the other half of the flock...

TIA!!!! And if I missed something, please let me know!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't see any benefit in dividing the coop or flock. Instead, I think the less you disrupt them the better.

Could you please post a photo of that hen on the nest? I'd like to look at it and see how close she is sitting to the sides. I once let a hen hatch in a cat litter bucket with a top 7-1/2" x 11-1/2". The first chicks to hatch sometimes like to climb on top of the hen. Usually that's not a problem but in this case she was sitting so close to the edge that when a chick fell off of her back it missed the nest and fell 4 feet to the coop floor. Four different times I had to pick up a chick and put it back in the nest, probably the same chick. I retired that nest after the hatch was over. I'd like to check out your nest.

Also, what does your pop door look like? How high inside and out? I made a set of steps using paving stones to help the chicks get in and out when the broody takes them out in the morning and brings them back in to sleep. The chicks are very mobile and can jump really well when Mama tells them to but they do have limits.

You have all kinds of options on how to go about it. Some people isolate their broody hens while incubating, hatching, or raising them, sometimes all three. I don't. I let my hens hatch with the flock and raise with the flock.

The first thing I do is to mark the eggs so I can identify them at a glance, using a black sharpie. If your eggs are a different color you don't need to mark them but you need to know which ones belong. Once a day after the other hens have laid I check under the broody to remove any that don't belong. As long as you remove them daily they are good to use. You don't have a rooster so they are not fertile, but if you let too many eggs build up the hen may not be able to cover them all so some get pushed out to chill and die.

I leave the hen alone while the chicks hatch and let the hen decide when to bring the chicks off of the nest. I have food and water for the chicks on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it. The other chickens scratch a lot and can scratch bedding into the food and water so I put a piece of plywood on top of the shavings to reduce how much gets scratched into the food and water. That's basically all I do other than clean the nest when she is finished with the hatch. The hen takes the chicks to sleep on the coop floor at night.

My broody hens usually keep their chicks in the coop a couple of days, then start taking them outside in the morning and keeps then outside all day. She will bring them back in to sleep at night. Since your flock free ranges the chicks will probably fill up on chicken feed two or three times a day but most of the day she will have them out in the grass, feeding on things in the ground and on grass and growing things. And they will probably be by themselves, maybe near the flock but separated.

Baby chicks should not eat Layer because it has a high level of calcium. When I have growing chicks, which is most of the time, I feed all of them Chick Starter or Grower, which are low calcium, and offer oyster shell on the side. The hens that need the oyster shell for their eggs seem to know to eat it, the others may eat a bite or two but not enough to hurt themselves. Don't think you can keep your chicks out of the hen's feed by raising those feeders. My broody hens scoop feed out and put it n the ground where the chicks can get it. By two weeks of age the chicks are flying up to the feeders to eat.

That's pretty much how I manage it. I don't isolate my broody hens so I'll let others talk to you about their methods. Good luck!

 

[downekc09]

I don't see any benefit in dividing the coop or flock. Instead, I think the less you disrupt them the better.

I totally forgot to mention another big reason for separating the flock in half (first to have edible eggs for us)! The cat!!! He went after one of the hens last year, took a big chunk out of her neck She survived, and we fed the cat extra well (happened in the fall, so we think he was trying to bulk up). Anyways, we want to fence in to keep the cat away from the chicks also.

Could you please post a photo of that hen on the nest? I'd like to look at it and see how close she is sitting to the sides. I once let a hen hatch in a cat litter bucket with a top 7-1/2" x 11-1/2". The first chicks to hatch sometimes like to climb on top of the hen. Usually that's not a problem but in this case she was sitting so close to the edge that when a chick fell off of her back it missed the nest and fell 4 feet to the coop floor. Four different times I had to pick up a chick and put it back in the nest, probably the same chick. I retired that nest after the hatch was over. I'd like to check out your nest.

I actually moved her nesting box to ground level because someone told me about this in another thread (may have been you! ). I will try to post a picture.

Also, what does your pop door look like? How high inside and out? I made a set of steps using paving stones to help the chicks get in and out when the broody takes them out in the morning and brings them back in to sleep. The chicks are very mobile and can jump really well when Mama tells them to but they do have limits.

I'll post some pictures when I get out to the coop. They are about 2 feet tall outside I think with a ramp leading up to them, and the inside maybe a couple inches up into the door.

You have all kinds of options on how to go about it. Some people isolate their broody hens while incubating, hatching, or raising them, sometimes all three. I don't. I let my hens hatch with the flock and raise with the flock.

The first thing I do is to mark the eggs so I can identify them at a glance, using a black sharpie. If your eggs are a different color you don't need to mark them but you need to know which ones belong.

They are marked!

Once a day after the other hens have laid I check under the broody to remove any that don't belong. As long as you remove them daily they are good to use. You don't have a rooster so they are not fertile, but if you let too many eggs build up the hen may not be able to cover them all so some get pushed out to chill and die.

She has 9 now, I will check for extras.

Baby chicks should not eat Layer because it has a high level of calcium. When I have growing chicks, which is most of the time, I feed all of them Chick Starter or Grower, which are low calcium, and offer oyster shell on the side. The hens that need the oyster shell for their eggs seem to know to eat it, the others may eat a bite or two but not enough to hurt themselves. Don't think you can keep your chicks out of the hen's feed by raising those feeders. My broody hens scoop feed out and put it n the ground where the chicks can get it. By two weeks of age the chicks are flying up to the feeders to eat.

I was thinking I could have the Chick Starter feed on their half of the coop.

That's pretty much how I manage it. I don't isolate my broody hens so I'll let others talk to you about their methods. Good luck!

Thank you!!!!!!