Moving broody hen

[FavreFarm]

hello everyone. I’ve had a broody hen sitting for a while and decided to get some babies to add to our flock. Never attempted this before and I would like to do everything correctly. I have a few concerns if anyone has advice.
1- we have 16 babies coming. How many can she realistically take on.(if she even accepts them) I’ve read she will have no problem taking all, but I’m worried it’s too many. Will have brooder set up Incase she rejects any/all
2- I need to move her from the coop with my other hens. They have killed a pullet I made the mistake of adding too early and don’t want to risk the babies around them. Can I move broody to inside pen before babies arrive and then slip them under? - I should add, the eggs she sits on she steals from the other hens. We don’t own a roo. Planning to leave a few eggs under her and trade them out.
3- if moving her right now is not an option, should I slip them under her in the coop (she has been sitting in one of the egg boxes) and then attempt to move her and the babies to the inside pen after she accepts them?
I appreciate any guidance or advice before babies arrive.

 

[centrarchid]

Do not move until she starts talking to embryos / chicks.

Age of incoming chicks?

How many days into incubation is hen?

 

[chickens really]

I always move my Broody Hens to a Brooder. I build a nest with eggs and wait for her to settle.
How long has she been Broody? Really no best answer for you..She will either accept the Chicks or she won't. Are the Chicks day olds?

 

[centrarchid]

Age of incoming chicks?

How many days into incubation is hen?

I always move my Broody Hens to a Brooder. I build a nest with eggs and wait for her to settle.
How long has she been Broody? Really no best answer for you..She will either accept the Chicks or she won't. Are the Chicks day olds?

That is the reason I ask age of chicks and days into incubation cycle. There are windows where the birds are open to imprinting / bonding. Making certain timing right greatly increases predictability of outcome.

 

[FavreFarm]

The hen has been sitting for just over a month. We tried breaking her, take her off nest, take eggs right away. She comes out once a day and goes right back to nest and steals any eggs in there to sit on.
The chicks will be 2-3 days old when they arrive.

 

[chickens really]

The hen has been sitting for just over a month. We tried breaking her, take her off nest, take eggs right away. She comes out once a day and goes right back to nest and steals any eggs in there to sit on.
The chicks will be 2-3 days old when they arrive.

I'd try moving her. Either way you will have Chicks that she accepts or that you need to raise yourself..

 

[Ridgerunner]

1- we have 16 babies coming. How many can she realistically take on.(if she even accepts them) I’ve read she will have no problem taking all, but I’m worried it’s too many. Will have brooder set up Incase she rejects any/all

What breed and how big is the hen? What breed and how big will the chicks be? Can she cover them all. Where are you, what kind of weather will you have? How important is it that she cover them all? If you are south of the equator and experiencing cold weather she probably needs to be able to cover them all for a while. In the heat of summer I've had chicks sleep on or next to Mama instead of under her practically from Day 1.

When I was a kid we had a hen hide a nest and bring off 18 chicks, she handled them all. I've given incubator chicks to hens, one time 15, one time 16, and the hens did fine. If the weather were cold I would not give a hen that many.

If your broody hen is a bantam and the chicks are full sized fowl, the answer could be different than if it were the other way around.

2- I need to move her from the coop with my other hens. They have killed a pullet I made the mistake of adding too early and don’t want to risk the babies around them. Can I move broody to inside pen before babies arrive and then slip them under?

Did that pullet have a mother hen protecting her? I don't know how much room you have in the coop or in the run, how many other chickens you have, or how you manage them but I have my broody hens raise the chicks with the flock so she can handle integration so I don't have to later. Still, many people separate a broody and her chicks for their own reasons. In some set-ups it can be the best thing to do. Just be prepared to integrate them yourself later.

This is a hard one. If you try to move her she could refuse the move and break from being broody. If that happens you'd have to brood them yourself. Somehow I don't think that would be a huge tragedy for you. If you move her and she does accept the move then the logistics get easier if you are going to separate the chicks. If you leave her alone she is probably more likely to accept the chicks. Depending on how the nest is set up, can you build a pen around that nest to lock the hen and chicks in and the other adults out, at least when you put the chicks under her?

A word of warning. One risk I've experienced when trying to separate a hen and chicks from other flock members is that the chicks can get way from the mother's protection. Whether you build a pen around the nest or a separate place to isolate the hen and chicks from the flock, make sure the chicks cannot get through the fence. If the hen cannot get to them to protect them they are at risk.

3- if moving her right now is not an option, should I slip them under her in the coop (she has been sitting in one of the egg boxes) and then attempt to move her and the babies to the inside pen after she accepts them?

When I give chicks to a broody hen I wait until after dark and everything has settled down. I put the chicks in the nest with her and check back first thing the next morning to see how it is going. I may put a couple of chicks under the hen but be careful. Don't crush one already under her when putting another under her. If you put them in the nest with her they should make their way under her. Mine do.

What does your nest look like? How enclosed is it? If it is pretty enclosed and has a fairly high lip, they should stay there with the hen. If it is wide open they may wonder away instead of getting under her. My nests are enclosed on three sides and I have a decent lip on the front, I've never had an issue with this. If your nest looks different you may have issues.

There are no hard and fast right answers to any of this. You are dealing with living animals, about anything can happen when it comes to behaviors. We all have different set-ups, goals, experiences, and situations. What works for me may not work for you. If I were doing this I wold stick the chicks under the hen and let her do her job. I'd expect it to work since it has in the past. But you are in a different situation, I don't know what the right answer is for you. Good luck however you try it.

 

[centrarchid]

It is hard to have hard and fast when are dead set on rejecting basic biological principles and then make things more complicated or mysterious than they need be.