Should I let a broody hen raise chicks?

[faerywings7]

I have a hen who is getting very insistent about sitting on some eggs. It's still pretty cool here in upstate NY and if I let her sit now they'll likely hatch sometime early to mid-April and our temps will probably only be in the 50's-60's during the day. Will that be warm enough or will I still need to add a chick warmer? This is my first time letting a hen sit, but I've had chickens for about 5 years.

 

[DobieLover]

I have a hen who is getting very insistent about sitting on some eggs. It's still pretty cool here in upstate NY and if I let her sit now they'll likely hatch sometime early to mid-April and our temps will probably only be in the 50's-60's during the day. Will that be warm enough or will I still need to add a chick warmer? This is my first time letting a hen sit, but I've had chickens for about 5 years.

The chicks will do just fine.
But before you let her set, make sure she is grafted to a ground nest. If not, it's risky letting her brood in an elevated nest.
I had a clutch hatch last year on April 29. If you recall, we had snow in early May. The chicks did very well and darted under mom whenever they got cold.
I would keep the clutch small so that no more than 6 or 7 chicks would hatch under a full size hen.

 

[faerywings7]

The chicks will do just fine.
But before you let her set, make sure she is grafted to a ground nest. If not, it's risky letting her brood in an elevated nest.
I had a clutch hatch last year on April 29. If you recall, we had snow in early May. The chicks did very well and darted under mom whenever they got cold.
I would keep the clutch small so that no more than 6 or 7 chicks would hatch under a full size hen.

Thank you for the good advice. Yes, she is currently in an elevated coop but I have a dog crate I've used for ailing hens before so I think that might work. I'll have to get that set up and see how she does. On to a new adventure!

 

[DobieLover]

Thank you for the good advice. Yes, she is currently in an elevated coop but I have a dog crate I've used for ailing hens before so I think that might work. I'll have to get that set up and see how she does. On to a new adventure!

She will fight it at first. She may break her broodiness.
Make the nest as plush as you can so she can contour it to her body. Put fake eggs in the nest until she grafts to it and religiously returns to it after she leaves for broody breaks.
THEN give her fertile fresh eggs that are marked.

 

[jodiefoster]

I have a hen who is getting very insistent about sitting on some eggs. It's still pretty cool here in upstate NY and if I let her sit now they'll likely hatch sometime early to mid-April and our temps will probably only be in the 50's-60's during the day. Will that be warm enough or will I still need to add a chick warmer? This is my first time letting a hen sit, but I've had chickens for about 5 years.

We let our first broody hens do it in kennels so we could keep a close eye and ensure things were warm as so forth. If you can let her come out of kennel when she needs to bathe, eat and take those extremely stinky broody poops. We left the door open until the chicks were hatched, then after about 5 days made a little fence around the open door so they could all come out and bath and such. You will love this experience.

 

[faerywings7]

We let our first broody hens do it in kennels so we could keep a close eye and ensure things were warm as so forth. If you can let her come out of kennel when she needs to bathe, eat and take those extremely stinky broody poops. We left the door open until the chicks were hatched, then after about 5 days made a little fence around the open door so they could all come out and bath and such. You will love this experience.

I have an area of the enclosed run that I can fence off from the other chickens. It's worked well for incorporating new chicks before. I think the big hurdle will be getting her moved. Hoping to do that tomorrow. I'll probably need hubby's help getting her out of the nesting box as that's where she seems to want to stay all day, but if I have the crate ready and transfer the eggs first, hopefully she'll take to it.

 

[faerywings7]

So it's been quite an experience... at some point an egg got kicked out of the nest and was cracked. It had a close to full grown chick in it. Shortly after that I got her moved to the dog crate again (first try failed) with about 11 eggs under her at that point. Almost 2 weeks ago her first chick hatched, then nothing for days and days. But the eggs were disappearing. Every once in a while I'd see a broken egg shell in with her and eventually that would disappear, too. Then yesterday I found a dead chick in the crate with her (pretty smelly so not fresh - got rid of it asap) and this morning another new chick, this one alive but chirping like crazy cuz it was cold. I moved it toward mom and eventually it got under her. I have starter food in with her but it doesn't seem like it's getting eaten. Could she be eating & feeding to her chick/s any unfertile eggs she still has?

And: I have one rooster now with 8 hens. If either of these new chicks turns out to be a rooster, would it be a constant hassle to keep both? The one I have now is about 3 years old and has a very good temperament, but he does have a lame foot, so I wonder if he would be able to defend the hens if it came to it.

Thanks!

 

[neo71665]

Chicks don't eat the first few days

 

[rosemarythyme]

She had a hatch 2 weeks ago and has continued to sit? How staggered out were these eggs?

When you have a broody set, you need to put the eggs that are being hatched under her at the same time. If you allow eggs to get added in after, she'd generally abandon the nest after a few days of the first chick hatching, and then you'd end up with partially or nearly full term eggs that would be left to die.

At this point it sounds like she's either killing and eating them, or something's getting in there and killing them. She might not be suitable as a mother and if that's the case, I would not want her to hatch again. I think you may need to cut your losses here, or get an incubator and finish hatching and brooding the chicks yourself.

 

[faerywings7]

She had a hatch 2 weeks ago and has continued to sit? How staggered out were these eggs?

When you have a broody set, you need to put the eggs that are being hatched under her at the same time. If you allow eggs to get added in after, she'd generally abandon the nest after a few days of the first chick hatching, and then you'd end up with partially or nearly full term eggs that would be left to die.

At this point it sounds like she's either killing and eating them, or something's getting in there and killing them. She might not be suitable as a mother and if that's the case, I would not want her to hatch again. I think you may need to cut your losses here, or get an incubator and finish hatching and brooding the chicks yourself.

Well, as I said, I've never done this before and had not intentions of doing it, but after trying to break her of brooding twice with no luck, I decided to let her give it a shot. I think she allowed/encouraged the other hens to lay in her nest and I doubt all of them were fertilized.

Another egg hatched out about a week ago, but I found it dead in the brooding pen. Then about a day or 2 later she had another live chick, so she now has 2, about 10 days apart. I can't see under her to tell if there are any more chicks, but with the warmer days we're having, I might get a look soon. I also put a trail cam in the brooding pen, but not sure if I'll get anything due to lighting and distance.