Seperating hens and rooster to raise chicks

[roosterhavoc]

I’ve raised a lot of hen hatched chicks with and without roosters around. I’m not saying you have to remove the rooster but if you want to avoid any and all problems it’s best to limit the risks of anything going wrong. One persons rooster is not another’s....so you can’t automatically assume the rooster can stay with them.

 

[NatJ]

I underatand the rooster will fertilize eggs and I let them just keeping laying eggs until some hatch?

It usually works best to collect the eggs each day, and keep them somewhere safe (like the house, but not the refrigerator.) Use a pencil to write the date on each egg, and when any get to be a week old, eat them instead of saving them for hatching.

When a hen goes broody, then give her some of those eggs you saved, making sure you give her the freshest ones.

You can let any broody hen do the hatching--as long as you only let her sit on eggs from the Barred Rock hens, and their father is also a Barred Rock, then you will have Barred Rock chicks.

A hen the size of a Barred Rock can probably sit on 10 eggs, maybe a few more than that. Don't give her so many that they stick out around the edges Do not add more eggs later, because you want all the chicks to hatch about the same time. That makes it much easier for the hen to care for them properly.

It's generally a good idea to have the broody hen sit on eggs in a pen with no other chickens. That way no others lay eggs in the nestbox where she's sitting, and they don't bother her while she's setting. After the chicks hatch, then you can decide whether to put them with the flock at once or keep them separate. Letting them sleep separately but join the others when you let them out of their run might be a good way to start introducing them to the other adult chickens.

 

[Nate in WI]

Yes I do not have enough room. You're right. And to be honest i think it's 20 laying hens and a rooster in the 8x8 coop. Ive had layers for almost 10 years and this is by far the most i've had in there. Years past has been between 8 and 14.
Thus i'm building another coop close to it... and maybe i'll move the other hens to the new coop and leave 3 BR hens and the rooster in the old coop?

 

[Nate in WI]

Great info NatJ, thank you!

 

[Nate in WI]

You can let any broody hen do the hatching--as long as you only let her sit on eggs from the Barred Rock hens, and their father is also a Barred Rock, then you will have Barred Rock chicks.

So i could have a regular brown chicken or americana (thats broody) sit on the BR eggs and she'll raise BR chicks as her own?

 

[Sixandahalfacres]

My Orpingtons are always super broody and super fluffy so I can fit a lot of eggs under them. I use them to hatch all sorts of different breeds, as those hens don’t go broody near as often. I always separate my broody, put all the eggs underneath at the same time, and then let her hatch in peace. Mostly they are 100% successful that way (as long as the eggs are all fertilized). A week after hatch I introduce the mama and babies to the main flock and have never had a problem integrating.

 

[aart]

Ive had layers for almost 10 years .....

...and you've never had a broody hen?

 

[Nate in WI]

...and you've never had a broody hen?

Sure, i've seen many do it... cant remember which breeds tho.

 

[NatJ]

So i could have a regular brown chicken or americana (thats broody) sit on the BR eggs and she'll raise BR chicks as her own?

Yes, certainly.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some of us isolate a broody while she is incubating, some as she is hatching, and some after she hatches. Many of us let their broody hens incubate, hatch, and raise the chicks with the flock. Just all kinds of options and combinations. I personally do not consider one way correct where every other way is wrong for everyone else on the planet. There may be something specific about your set-up, conditions, or management techniques that makes one way better than others so not all can do it any way they choose. What works for me might not work for you.

I probably need an example. Room does not just men coop, it means how much room they have available when the chickens are awake so that often includes the run too. Broody hens need a certain amount of room to do their job when raising chicks. When mine have chicks they have the weather that they can be outside all day every day and they are. If you have them shoehorned into a tiny space it is really easy for something bad to happen. My broodies tend to keep the chicks away from the main flock so accidents are a lot less likely to happen. A danger period can be after the hen weans her chicks and leaves them to make their own way with the flock. I've had broody hens wean their chicks at three weeks old. That has happened twice, two different hens. My chicks have always done fine on their own, whether they are 3 weeks old or 10 weeks old when the broody weans them. But I have a lot of room in the coop and outside. The chicks can avoid the adults and they do. So if your space is really tight that could be a good reason to isolate a broody and her chicks when she is raising them. If room is that tight you will likely have issues when you try to integrate them yourself later.

The times I've had issues was when I tried to isolate them while a broody was raising them. A chick slips through a fence or gate and gets away from the broody hen's protection. I've never had a broody hen fail to protect her chicks though some people say it has happened. If a chick gets where a broody hen cannot protect it then it is at risk. So if you try to isolate make sure a chick cannot get through or under a fence or through a crack at the gate.

I've never had a dominant rooster attack or threaten a young chick. Again some people say they have. You don't get guarantees with living animals and their behaviors. Mostly my roosters ignore baby chicks with a broody hen. I have had a few that helps a broody hen take care of them but most just ignore them.

A broody hen will try to hatch her own eggs, any other hen's eggs, turkey eggs, pheasant eggs, golf balls, or a door knob. If nothing is there she will use her imagination to create something. If the hen lays brown eggs she will also hatch white, blue, or green eggs. My broody hens never hatch their own eggs unless they hide a nest. I don't start gathering eggs for them to hatch until I see that I have a broody hen so it is always other hens' eggs.

Hens and eggs come in different sizes. A small bantam may have all it can do to hatch 4 regular sized eggs. Who knows how many bantam eggs a full sized hen can handle. The weather plays a part for me. Chicks grow pretty fast. If a hen has a lot of chicks they may have trouble all getting under her when they've grown a bit. In summer that's not a big deal, I've seen some pretty young chicks sleep on top of a hen instead of under her. In colder weather I reduce the number of eggs I give a broody hen to hatch.

A hen needs to be able to comfortably cover all the eggs she has. Otherwise bad things can happen. I typically give a hen 12 eggs of the size she lays. I had a hen that could not comfortably handle a dozen, so I only gave her 10. I had a hen hide a nest and bring 18 chicks off. I never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she had. I've given a hen 15 chicks to raise in warm weather, she hatched some and some were hatched in an incubator timed to hatch at the same time. No problems. So to answer the question there is no magic number of how many chicks or eggs a hen can handle. It depends on a lot of different factors.

maybe i'll move the other hens to the new coop and leave 3 BR hens and the rooster in the old coop?

Might be a good move. If you can tell which eggs the Barred Rock hens lay and your only rooster is a Barred Rock, then you don't need to isolate them. If you can't tell which are their eggs you probably do need to isolate them to collect hatching eggs. With a true Barred Rock rooster all his children will be barred. There are exceptions but with most hens his children will be black as well. It is unlikely you can look at the chicks and tell which hen is the mother. There can be exceptions to this, there always can be exceptions, but in general you cannot tell.

i've heard you dont want to breed mixed type chicks

This depends on your goals. Some people do want pure breeds, I'm very happy with my mixes. For example if you want to sell hatching eggs or chicks you can probably do better with pure breeds. If you are raising them for eggs or meat it's less important.

Not all hens go broody, many not ever. When they do it's often when it is not convenient for you. I love my broodies and love letting them hatch and raise with the flock. But one of my main goals is to raise them for meat. I can't raise enough for me just using broodies. If I had to depend on broody hens to hatch enough I'd have to have a lot more hens which cost a lot to feed and I'd have to build a lot more facilities. For my set-up and goals that is not efficient. So I use an incubator to hatch several and raise them myself. The only way you can control when you hatch or even if you hatch is with an incubator. But broody hens are nice.