Three Broody Hens mixing and sharing clutches.

[Silverhooligan]

I’ve only had one hen go broody at a time previously. Having multiple broody hens is new to me.

I started with two hens that went broody at the same time and I gave them 7 eggs each. A third became broody a few days later taking the middle of the three nesting boxes. She didn’t have any eggs, but she diligently sat in her empty nest and when one of the mamas took a break she’d babysit. They are mixing and matching, seemingly sharing the responsibilities. I ended up giving the third broody hen two eggs, one from each box. It seemed unfair that her attentiveness not be rewarded with a few chicks.

There are 17 other hens and two roosters. I was planning on moving the three broody hens to the nursery (older smaller coop) after the eggs hatched.

As they are peacefully tri-parenting and swapping clutches—a hen has always been on the eggs and the eggs are developing well—should I be concerned if I put the three mammas in the same nursery, which is four by 2.5 meters in size? I was going to make three nesting areas.

We’re at day 12. There are 10 remaining eggs that are viable. One has five, one has three, and one has two. (I started out with 14 eggs but four weren’t viable.)

Thank you, I’d appreciate any tips or suggestions on managing the hens and chicks.

 

[Waterflowerworks]

As long as the hens arent attacking one another putting them together in the same coop shouldn't pose any issues. The coop dimensions seems big enough to house all three of them comfortably with their small clutch of chicks.

 

[fluffycrow]

Co-brooding works very well here. The hens are very happy to co-brood, with top hens co-brooding with lower ranking hens, and/or older hens co-brooding with young pullets. It all seems to work great, and I much prefer having them stay with the group. There have been no instances of aggression towards the chicks, other than disciplinary pecks, from the rest of the group. The males especially are great about imprinting and caring for the chicks.

Shown in the photo, the rooster imprinting on the latest arrival, after mum (the head hen) and co-mum (a young pullets and a low ranking member of the group) introduced the chick to the group

When tending to live animals, one doesn’t get many guarantees, much less when dealing with multiple broodies. We can’t say for sure what will happen in your situation. The fact that they seem to share the brooding responsibilities, and recognise eachother as safe for their eggs is definitely a promising start. Things might change when the chicks start hatching and when they become more active, but so far, everything sounds quite positive

 

[Silverhooligan]

Thank you, that’s very helpful!

 

[Silverhooligan]

As long as the hens arent attacking one another putting them together in the same coop shouldn't pose any issues. The coop dimensions seems big enough to house all three of them comfortably with their small clutch of chicks.

Thank you!