TWO mommas hatching eggs at the same time - space question

[scooterward]

I have two hens that will be hatching out eggs this weekend - Sophia on Saturday (8) and Rebekah on Sunday (12). Of course, I have no idea of what the hatch rate will actually be. We'll see.

My question is can I put them both in the same space in the coop to start with? Right now they are in the nest boxes (we have 4 nest boxes in all and they are in the lower two).

Our coop is 10x10 with a high people ceiling and inside the coop is a 5x5 sectioned off area. There is also a run that is about 10x24 (give or take). Both moms are the top two hens. Rebekah has been a mom previously and this is the first time for Sophia. Eight of Rebekahs chicks will go to my aunt and uncles house in a month. The rest will stay. We have six other hens.

Thanks for any advice, opinions and feedback!

 

[DraigAthar]

It really does depend on the hens. I know people who let hens brood and hatch in the same enclosure with no problems whatsoever. I tried it once with miserable results. One hen would not leave the other hen alone. She pestered her so much she abandoned her eggs. I didn't even want to try and put the two of them together after chicks had hatched!

 

[jtbrown]

I have had multiple broodies on multiple sets twice now. Last batch was hatched just 2 days ago. These two hens will not tolerate each other, the mille fleur d'uccle even went as far as running to the other's nesting place (after the hatch) and pooped on her nest (while occupied). I watched it or I wouldn't have believed it. I have never seen her behave aggressively, and quite honestly it made me laugh. But I separated them, I don't want chicks killed over that and I have enough space to squeeze them into separate areas for a few weeks.

However, last year I had 4, yes 4 hens broody at the same time and they all shared adjoining nests and the chicks once hatched would run between the nests on a little ramp/shelf I built. They literally were mothered by all 4 birds. I assumed that would happen this year, but it did not.

Both times I have managed to safely move broodies to the nest boxes during incubation where my grow out "day old chicks" that I raised on heat lamps were. So there was no competition for nest boxes during the broody period.

Hope that helps, as above, plan to roll with it and see what happens.

Good luck.

 

[scooterward]

Thanks for the responses!

I think what I will do is put them in the same space but have two seperate boxes, one for each of them to stay in with their babies. If I find that they are not getting along, I will divide or seperate them. I've got the space all ready to go and a back up plan in place.

 

[DraigAthar]

Sounds like a good plan, let us know how it works out!

 

[scooterward]

Well, I had to modify the maternity ward the other night. Rebekah is super over protective whereas Sophia is fine. Rebekah would go over and growl at Sophia's little ones making them scatter all over the place. They kept getting their feathers ruffled so I put a divider between them. The moms and the babies can still see each other but neither can go to the other's side. I didn't want anyone to get hurt or anything so I thought this is the best solution. I lost my own seat though because the divider is smack in the middle. I'll manage.

In the future, I will probably have only one broody hen hatching eggs at one time. Most likely Sophia - she is sweet and lets me pat her and pick up her babies. She's still protective but not aggressively so. She is loving/attentive to any of the chicks.

I will also set up the maternity ward when I set the eggs and have the moms incubate/hatch the eggs right there and not try to move them from the nest box after hatching. That way there are no other hens laying eggs on top of the moms and the moms incubating extra eggs either.

Lessons learned for the next time to make things easier.