Two Broody Hens, Can They Share Space??

[denco5]

I have two broody hens, they both went broody on Thursday. It seems they are staying put until they have baby chicks.

My question is, can two broody hens share the same isolation pen? I have a seperate coop and run attached to the main coop and run for the broody hens, it is a 6 X 6 coop with a 10 X 8 enclosed run. Would it be possible to move them both in there are would they bother/break each others eggs and peck/kill the chicks once they are hatched?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Dennis

 

[Mrs MIA]

I tried to let two silkies hatch eggs in the same pen, and it was a disaster. They kept swapping eggs during the incubation process, and one hen killed the chicks of the other hen when they hatched. I'm not saying that's going to be true for ALL hens, but it's a distinct possibility. I now separate all my broodies into their own pen.

 

[teach1rusl]

I agree that it depends on the hens. I've read of them pretty much co-parenting chicks. But I've also read of disasters. You could divide (just with wire) the broody coop and see how the other reacts through the wire when chicks hatch and go from there...???

 

[Judy]

I've had them co-parent; I haven't had one hen kill another's chicks. Just depends on their personalities, I guess.

 

[denco5]

Thank everyone, I guess the safe thing to do is seperate them if I can. I will have to see what I can come up with. If not I will try the co-parenting and go from there.

 

[elmo]

I had my broodies separate until one day I accidentally let one get in the pen with another. They immediately started to fight with each other and I got a nasty peck on the arm trying to separate them.