Question about keeping newly hatched chicks with flock.

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They have to be brooded separately until they are feathered out enough for the weather conditions, usually 8-12 weeks depending on how cold you are at this time of year. Then they can be integrated into the flock.

 

[chickmama81]

This is great info! I have a very broody buff Orpington. She's been on the nest for about 5 weeks and I have not been able to keep her off. She is the sweetest hen in my flock and right now she is a little devil! I cant have a rooster so there's no chance those eggs were gonna hatch but she is bound and determined to be a momma. I decided to get some young chicks about 3-4 days old and put them in the nest with her this evening. At first she looked very confused and I thought she wasn't going to take to them but after about 10 min she was allowing the chicks to nestle right under her. I closed the coop off to the other hens so they would be safe through the night but I plan to let them hash it out tomorrow. I figure chickens have been raising their young for a long time and nature will take its course... I'll supervise to make sure my butterscotch will protect the babies and if so I'm letting her do her thing and hoping for the best. I hope I'm making the right decision but honestly I'm lazy and it just seems unnecessary to do all this separating when that's not how it's done in nature. Hopefully I have lively chicks when I check on the in the am and moms hen protects those babies!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

This is great info! I have a very broody buff Orpington. She's been on the nest for about 5 weeks and I have not been able to keep her off. She is the sweetest hen in my flock and right now she is a little devil! I cant have a rooster so there's no chance those eggs were gonna hatch but she is bound and determined to be a momma. I decided to get some young chicks about 3-4 days old and put them in the nest with her this evening. At first she looked very confused and I thought she wasn't going to take to them but after about 10 min she was allowing the chicks to nestle right under her. I closed the coop off to the other hens so they would be safe through the night but I plan to let them hash it out tomorrow. I figure chickens have been raising their young for a long time and nature will take its course... I'll supervise to make sure my butterscotch will protect the babies and if so I'm letting her do her thing and hoping for the best. I hope I'm making the right decision but honestly I'm lazy and it just seems unnecessary to do all this separating when that's not how it's done in nature. Hopefully I have lively chicks when I check on the in the am and moms hen protects those babies!

That is the best way to add new members, though I initially keep them confined in a pen in the coop for a few days, sometimes a chick wanders off and gets killed, after about a week or two everyone can keep up.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Mama hens do all their babies heavy fighting for them. If the peeps are kept with their hatching mother you should instead worry about her beating up the other hens.

That said sometimes a chick become a collateral damage causality when it's mama pitches into a hen who isn't sufficiently respectful of the new chicks.

 

[Mrs. K]

Another point - I have now had broody hens raising chicks in the flock for 9 year. Not the same birds, but the same flock. The last several clutches, the layers seemed much more accepting, and my chicks within weeks would be eating under the legs of a layer that was not the broody hen. It is a big change the week they hatch, but after the broody hen lays down the law, they are just part of the flock.

I love having a broody hen, and am currently praying for one right now!

 

[chickmama81]

That is the best way to add new members, though I initially keep them confined in a pen in the coop for a few days, sometimes a chick wanders off and gets killed, after about a week or two everyone can keep up.

 

[chickmama81]

This has worked perfectly so far!! She is a good mama the other hens haven't seemed to even care about the chick and if they even look her way she fluffs right up and they turn the other way

So glad I did it this way... No work for me... WINNING!

 

[kimthom66]

I have a situation where I just got a bigger coop (just in the nick of time) I have a bantam cochin flock that cosists of 1 rooster, 4 hens, 2 young pullets and a younger pullet & roo and 3 out of my 4 hens went broody for the second time this year. They are setting on 16 eggs split between them. This morning they started hatching and so far I have 4 (make sense 4 laying hens) they are in the coop and I shut the door to the coop so that they could have all the room they want but will allow the other chickens to go in tonight. I could possibly move them but I did that with my first hatching and I have had a heck of a time getting that momma and her two chicks integrated back into the flock, so I am thinking of just letting them stay put? i will continue to shut the coop up during the day until the hatching is done. and they have food and water and I try to get the mommas out at least once a day to stretch her legs and eat. Wish me luck!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Most hens will only stay on the nest about 2 days after the first egg hatches, if your hatch is staggered as it sounds like they may abandon the rest, but having two hens it's hard to say. Wishing you luck that it works out fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When my hens hatch in the coop, I do not lock the other chickens out of the coop. I allow the hens that are laying to continue to lay in the nests. I don’t want them to learn to lay somewhere that is not the coop. It’s never been a problem. The other chickens do not interfere with my broody hatching. That said, I’m not sure how you are managing the flock and the new coop. This may be part of your thinking. I could see letting the broody hens have the old coop for a while and the others the new coop. Or maybe something else. I don’t know how the coops are set up or what nests you have.

I try to interfere with my broody hens as little as possible when they are hatching. I cause a lot less harm that way. There is no reason to try to get the Mamas out daily to stretch their legs. They want to be with their babies. I’ve had a broody hen bring her chicks off the nest within 24 hours of the first one hatching, I’ve had them wait more than 3 full days. They don’t abandon their babies but stay with them. They seem to know when it is time to bring them off the nest.

I don’t know how your hatch is set up. Are all three broody hens sharing the same nest or does each have her own nest? Were all the eggs started at the same time or is it a staggered hatch with different eggs due different days? All that could make a difference in how I managed them. In some cases I probably would interfere a lot more than normal. It’s hard to say what I’d do without knowing a lot more about the specific situation. There are always different ways to do things.

The main reason I’m posting is to say to not try to get the hens away from the babies unless you have a specific reason. Sometimes broody hens fight over the eggs when they start to hatch or fight over who is going to take care of the chicks. That doesn’t always happen, many people are very pleased with how multiple broodies can work together to hatch and raise chicks. I once had broody hens fight over eggs that were starting to hatch so I know it doesn’t always work out. They destroyed some of the eggs. Since yours appear to be working together so far you will probably be OK there, but something like that is about the only reason I’d try to separate some of the hens from the chicks. I’d always leave one hen with the chicks. If I ever separated a broody I would not try to put them back together. I’d worry about them fighting over the chicks and maybe harming the chicks when you put them back together.

It sounds like your hatch is off to a good start. Good luck with the rest of it.