Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Sydney Acres]

First the Question, then the background :.)
How long does the mother hen need to stay with the chicks? And at what age can I introduce the chicks to the remaining girls.
I have 4 chickens, and only one has gone broody and she did it twice in the span of 3 months. I think she is a Rock Island White, and she is a very big girl compared to my other hens. Anyway in the 2nd broody adventure I got some fertilized eggs from a friend. I set up the rabbit hutch in the far corner of the chicken run and just before the chicks hatched, we fenced off almost half of the run for her and the babies. The other chickens are right next door with their coop also in the run, just on the other side. During the day, I set up a play yard outside their door so the chicks can get fresh grass. My other hens free range in my back yard whenever possible. Anyway, the Mother Hen is starting to go crazy I think, she jumped out of the play yard, but then went nuts after she realized that she could not get to her chicks. I am sure she would love some time to roam free, but not sure if she will while the chicks are small. The chicks are now 15 days old.

Oh my, put her back with her chicks. They're much too young to be by themselves, and mama is definitely not ready to leave them on their own. She may become so frantic to get back to them that she could injure herself.

If I'm understanding your setup correctly, it sounds like there was the opportunity for mama hen to join the flock, but the chicks were unable to follow. After mama left the chicks she realized they were unable to follow her but she couldn't figure out how to get back to them and went into a panic? Is that what happened?

If she's much bigger than the other hens, is she the dominant hen? If so, she might be willing to take the chicks with her to mingle with the flock now. There's no set age when the mother will take her chicks to rejoin the flock. Most will do it sometime between 2-4 weeks, but it depends on the flock and her standing within the flock. If the flock is made up of loving hens that will protect and coparent the chicks, she'll probably take them in much sooner than if the flock is made up of aggressive chickens that will try to kill the babies, especially if mama is on the bottom of the pecking order to begin with. Basically, she'll take them to the flock when she feels it's safe to do so, and she can effectively protect them.

If possible, allow her to rejoin the flock with the chicks on a day that you can be available to supervise. If all goes well, then she can take over. If there are problems, you are available to intervene when necessary. I would also be careful to prevent any situation where she is separated from her chicks.

 

[Moppet]

oh, don't worry, I had her back with her chicks within minutes.

 

[Moppet]

Snow (mama hen) is the largest but also at the bottom of the pecking order. Fire, is a skinny chicken that I got with her and they get along fine, but the two older hens (Squacker and Queen Bee) I call the mean girls. When Snow way laying on her eggs, when ever she would come other the other would pick on her. I always wondered if it was because she was white and the others are redish types. Anyway, as soon as I heard the commotion outside I went out and found Snow in my veggie garden that the chickens are only allowed in during late fall and winter. Of course she didn't care about that she only wanted back to her babies.....

I am concerned that the big mean girls might hurt the chicks. And I am wondering when they won't need mom so much.

 

[Layira]

I have a hen that just about finished hatching her second clutch. she was sitting on 8 eggs of mixed origins and they are separated from the rest of the flock. in the past i think i allowed them back into the flock unprepared and the babies didn't make it. what is the general rule for letting mom and babies return to the flock? I really don't want to lose these chicks and I don't want the hen to get hurt either. She's such a good mama, sweet to me and very dedicated to her surrogate babies.

 

[fisherlady]

Moppet... I agree with bumpercarr and Sydney Acres... I would allow mingling in a 'free range' or decent sized open run area whenever mama wants.

Our broodies get about 3 days of 'private quarters' with the little ones, it allows the chicks to learn to recognize mama's vocalizations and by the end of that time the hens are getting antsy to return to the flock environment with the little ones. After about day 3 the broodies and chicks are put out to free range or spend time in the coop and run with the rest of the flock, though they do have a comfy corner nest to return to each night for about 2 or 3 weeks. Usually after the 3 weeks period the hens start taking ours up to the first level roost boards (which are actually boards on their sides, about 8" wide. They stay there with them for 2-4weeks and then the hen usually cuts the apron strings and she returns to the top shelves and the little ones stay on the lower roosts for a bit longer. The youngsters work their way up to the top shelves over the course of the next month or so, depending on their individual personalities.


There really are very, very few integration issues using this method. The broody watches out for the little ones when they are very young, but the rest of the flock is used to them being around (and underfoot!) The youngsters quickly learn which adults tolerate them, and which they need to avoid... Yes, there are always to risks of injury to chicks, they don't happen often... but it is a risk. We have removed 2 young roosters from our flock over the past few years because they were intolerant of the chicks, but every flock is made up of many different personalities, so recognizing and removing the problem personalities is just part of flock management. But chickens have managed to raise new generations for 100s of years on their own and on farms where frequent tending just isn't practical. I have noticed that as we have had more and more broodies raising chicks within the flock there are fewer and fewer issues. It does seem that flocks can adjust quickly to the broodies and chicks also.

 

[fisherlady]

Snow (mama hen) is the largest but also at the bottom of the pecking order. Fire, is a skinny chicken that I got with her and they get along fine, but the two older hens (Squacker and Queen Bee) I call the mean girls. When Snow way laying on her eggs, when ever she would come other the other would pick on her. I always wondered if it was because she was white and the others are redish types. Anyway, as soon as I heard the commotion outside I went out and found Snow in my veggie garden that the chickens are only allowed in during late fall and winter. Of course she didn't care about that she only wanted back to her babies.....

I am concerned that the big mean girls might hurt the chicks. And I am wondering when they won't need mom so much.

Supervise their mingling closely since they have shown tendencies to be nasty. Provide an area that allows the broody and chicks to move away from the other hens if needed. Allow short periods of time to mingle at first, then gradually increase the time. Allow the hen and chicks to continue to return to their private quarters as long as they want for quiet time and overnighting. You will be able to judge what time frames will work best for your flock after watching them a bit.

I have a hen that just about finished hatching her second clutch. she was sitting on 8 eggs of mixed origins and they are separated from the rest of the flock. in the past i think i allowed them back into the flock unprepared and the babies didn't make it. what is the general rule for letting mom and babies return to the flock? I really don't want to lose these chicks and I don't want the hen to get hurt either. She's such a good mama, sweet to me and very dedicated to her surrogate babies.

Please refer to my above post and the reply to Moppet above.... every flock is different, and supervision and observation to remove problem birds or provide extra areas of division is often needed when flocks are new to broodies and chicks. There are no 'hard and fast' rules, they need to be adjusted to suit individual personalities and even physical restrictions of coops and runs.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

I have a broody hen sitting on eggs that are due to hatch the 12th of June.
Tonight when I went in the broody area to lift her of her eggs for some outside time I noticed something sticky on her. Went to check the nest & found a broken egg. It was on the bottom of the nest anda few of the eggs got some goo on them. Cleaned the broken egg up & tried to wipe off the eggs best I could. Is this hatch ruined?
Suggestions?

 

[fisherlady]

I have a broody hen sitting on eggs that are due to hatch the 12th of June.
Tonight when I went in the broody area to lift her of her eggs for some outside time I noticed something sticky on her. Went to check the nest & found a broken egg. It was on the bottom of the nest anda few of the eggs got some goo on them. Cleaned the broken egg up & tried to wipe off the eggs best I could. Is this hatch ruined?
Suggestions?

Sounds like you handled it fine... broken eggs happen sometimes and they are a sticky mess for sure... I just gently wipe off any heavy coating from other eggs, change out bedding as needed and let them go at that. If an egg were totally coated with the broken egg goo and it had dried on it then it would be at pretty high risk of failure, but sounds like your remaining eggs should still have a good chance.

If you can tell them apart then mark the eggs which were affected and candle them in another 3 or 4 days for movement or other signs of development.

Hope it works out well for you!

 

[OHfarmerswife]

 Sounds like you handled it fine... broken eggs happen sometimes and they are a sticky mess for sure... I just gently wipe off any heavy coating from other eggs, change out bedding as needed and let them go at that.  If an egg were totally coated with the broken egg goo and it had dried on it then it would be at pretty high risk of failure, but sounds like your remaining eggs should still have a good chance.

 If you can tell them apart then mark the eggs which were affected and candle them in another 3 or 4 days for movement or other signs of development. 

Hope it works out well for you!

Thanks fisherlady.
I will check them tomorrow, & mark them.
So sad to see the little tiny chick.

 

[mebberry4]

I just got home from work and went out to check on the situation. Sure enough, one adorable little all black chick under Momma broody' swing. So sweet!
It was too dark for pics, but I will be out the at first light taking tons of them for sure.
From what I could tell with the flashlight this chick was black with no markings...since the rooster was a NH red and there were barred rock hens in the laying flock, I'm thinking this is possibly a black sex link....in which case it is hopefully a pullet!!
I can't wait to post some pics and see what you all think