Using broody hen to hatch chicks - my job when chicks are hatched?

[downekc09]

Are you going to let the broody hen raise the chicks with the flock or are you going to isolate them from the flock? Again, people do this all kinds of ways.

Thank you so much!! I have plenty of room in the coop for a dog cage, so I am going to keep her in there, but she and the other hens will be able to see each other. There is a dark corner, so I'll put her over there. When chicks arrive, the older hens will be able to see them at least.

That's a good point about the chicken wire around the cage, I didn't think about that!

I am hoping that she will raise the chicks herself, but if not, I have a heat lamp and brooder pen ready just in case, and we can close off half of the coop from the older hens from them.

Thanks again for your input! We're excited and hope for success!

 

[downekc09]

You will find that we do this all sorts of different ways. I let my hens hatch with the flock and raise the chicks with the flock while others isolate them. It sound like you've decided to isolate her so I'll not go through my procedure with hatching with the flock.

Do you actually mind telling me what you do if you let hens hatch with the flock? We can always set the nesting boxes on the ground from where they are so there isn't a huge change.

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

Hello! I have a hen who is very broody right now. I would like to order some eggs and try to have her hatch them. This is our first time trying to have chicks We have room for a wired dog pen in the coop; should I try to put her in the wired dog cage when she is sitting on the eggs or leave her in the nesting box until one hatches? Our nesting boxes are up higher, so I don't want any chicks to fall We can remove the nesting box she is in and move it into the wired dog cage (they are big cat litter bins screwed in).

Once hatched, is there something I need to do special for the chicks like different food available or something the hen needs? Does she feed them? How long do I keep chicks in with the hen?

T I A ! ! ! !

Picture of our broody hen, Shania

View attachment 2601949

I think its good to move the hen but personally I don't. I find it too much of a hassle and most of the time (for me) the hen doesn't like it when she isn't in a familiar space and can see her flock, but still has eggs. My broodies choose the flock over the eggs and start freaking out.

2. She's a BEAUTIFUL hen! I really want another blue-red laced wyandotte someday. They really are amazing.

3. The chicks need starter feed, and I would keep the hen on starter as well because she won't eat and drink as much as usual.

4. In terms of chicks falling, as long as you have bedding they will probably have fun falling off of it . My only concern is that the hen would want to keep them in the nesting box and she cant get the chicks back up to the boxes. So if it were me I would at least move her to floor level. You can even use a sideways bucket with some straw/bedding in it.

Ive got a broody hatching eggs in exactly one week!! I cant wait!

GOOD LUCK!!

 

[downekc09]

I think its good to move the hen but personally I don't. I find it too much of a hassle and most of the time (for me) the hen doesn't like it when she isn't in a familiar space and can see her flock, but still has eggs. My broodies choose the flock over the eggs and start freaking out.

2. She's a BEAUTIFUL hen! I really want another blue-red laced wyandotte someday. They really are amazing.

3. The chicks need starter feed, and I would keep the hen on starter as well because she won't eat and drink as much as usual.

4. In terms of chicks falling, as long as you have bedding they will probably have fun falling off of it . My only concern is that the hen would want to keep them in the nesting box and she cant get the chicks back up to the boxes. So if it were me I would at least move her to floor level. You can even use a sideways bucket with some straw/bedding in it.

Ive got a broody hatching eggs in exactly one week!! I cant wait!

GOOD LUCK!!

Thank you! Maybe I will try setting all of the nesting boxes on the ground so all hens have them at ground level. Good luck with your hatching eggs!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you actually mind telling me what you do if you let hens hatch with the flock? We can always set the nesting boxes on the ground from where they are so there isn't a huge change.

I collect all the eggs I want a hen to hatch so they are all started at the same time. You should always do this, you do not want a staggered hatch.

I mark all the eggs with a black Sharpie so I can tell at a glance which eggs belong. Then every day after the other hens have laid, I check under the broody hen and remove any eggs that don't belong. Eggs can show up in different ways. Other hens often like laying with my broody hens and my broodies let them. This is kind of rare but broody hens have been known to physically move an egg from another nest to their own. If you remove these eggs every day they are still good to use. Marking the eggs and checking every day is the main thing I do.

The height of the nest doesn't bother me. I've seen broody hens get their chicks out of a ten feet high hay loft. Mama flies down and tells the chicks to jump. They do, then bounce up and run to her. My hens typically hatch in nests 2 feet to 4 feet above the coop floor. That's only been a problem one time and that was a special case. One year I used a cat litter bucket as a nest, set on a 45 degree angle with an open top. The top of that bucket was 7-1/2" x 11-1/2". Sometimes the chicks that hatch first like to climb up on Mama's back while waiting on the later ones to hatch. In this specific nest the hen was sitting so close to the sides that when the chick fell off it missed the nest and went all 4 feet to the coop floor. All my other nests are big enough and covered so the hen is nowhere close enough that the chicks can fall out of the nest. Four different times I had to pick a chick up off of the coop floor and put it back in the nest with Mama. Probably the same chick each time. Four feet off of the coop floor and the chick was not hurt. That's the only time I've ever had a chick fall. That nest was fine for a hen to lay eggs in but was no good for incubating. When that hatch was over I retired that nest.

When the chicks hatch I put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to them when Mama brings them off of the nest. I let the broody hen decide when she wants to bring her chicks off. Sometimes that is about 24 hours after the first one hatches, often it is a day later. One time I had a hen hatch her first chick late on a Monday. I don't know when her last chick hatched but she did not bring them off of the nest until Friday morning, about 80 hours after the first one hatched. I leave that kind of stuff up to the hen.

After my hens bring the chicks off of the nest Mama usually keeps them in my coop for a couple of days before she take them outside. She does not try to take them back to the nest at night, she settles down on the coop floor with them somewhere. They soon get into a routine where the hen takes them outside first thing in the morning and keeps them outside all day every day. At night she brings them back into the coop and they settle down to sleep on the coop floor.

One precaution I take is that every night at bedtime I go down there to make sure Mama and the babies are OK. I go down to lock the pop door against predators at night anyway. One time there was a problem, a chick was trapped so it couldn't get to the broody. It was peeping, calling for help, so I could not miss it. That was the dumbest broody I've ever seen. A few times during the day the rooster was helping her take care of her chicks. She'd get separated from some across a fence and not know to go back to the gate to collect them. I saw that three times. But somehow between her, the rooster, and me she managed to raise all of her chicks.

 

[downekc09]

I collect all the eggs I want a hen to hatch so they are all started at the same time. You should always do this, you do not want a staggered hatch.

I mark all the eggs with a black Sharpie so I can tell at a glance which eggs belong. Then every day after the other hens have laid, I check under the broody hen and remove any eggs that don't belong. Eggs can show up in different ways. Other hens often like laying with my broody hens and my broodies let them. This is kind of rare but broody hens have been known to physically move an egg from another nest to their own. If you remove these eggs every day they are still good to use. Marking the eggs and checking every day is the main thing I do.

The height of the nest doesn't bother me. I've seen broody hens get their chicks out of a ten feet high hay loft. Mama flies down and tells the chicks to jump. They do, then bounce up and run to her. My hens typically hatch in nests 2 feet to 4 feet above the coop floor. That's only been a problem one time and that was a special case. One year I used a cat litter bucket as a nest, set on a 45 degree angle with an open top. The top of that bucket was 7-1/2" x 11-1/2". Sometimes the chicks that hatch first like to climb up on Mama's back while waiting on the later ones to hatch. In this specific nest the hen was sitting so close to the sides that when the chick fell off it missed the nest and went all 4 feet to the coop floor. All my other nests are big enough and covered so the hen is nowhere close enough that the chicks can fall out of the nest. Four different times I had to pick a chick up off of the coop floor and put it back in the nest with Mama. Probably the same chick each time. Four feet off of the coop floor and the chick was not hurt. That's the only time I've ever had a chick fall. That nest was fine for a hen to lay eggs in but was no good for incubating. When that hatch was over I retired that nest.

When the chicks hatch I put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to them when Mama brings them off of the nest. I let the broody hen decide when she wants to bring her chicks off. Sometimes that is about 24 hours after the first one hatches, often it is a day later. One time I had a hen hatch her first chick late on a Monday. I don't know when her last chick hatched but she did not bring them off of the nest until Friday morning, about 80 hours after the first one hatched. I leave that kind of stuff up to the hen.

After my hens bring the chicks off of the nest Mama usually keeps them in my coop for a couple of days before she take them outside. She does not try to take them back to the nest at night, she settles down on the coop floor with them somewhere. They soon get into a routine where the hen takes them outside first thing in the morning and keeps them outside all day every day. At night she brings them back into the coop and they settle down to sleep on the coop floor.

One precaution I take is that every night at bedtime I go down there to make sure Mama and the babies are OK. I go down to lock the pop door against predators at night anyway. One time there was a problem, a chick was trapped so it couldn't get to the broody. It was peeping, calling for help, so I could not miss it. That was the dumbest broody I've ever seen. A few times during the day the rooster was helping her take care of her chicks. She'd get separated from some across a fence and not know to go back to the gate to collect them. I saw that three times. But somehow between her, the rooster, and me she managed to raise all of her chicks.

Thanks! As I was reading, I thought of something that might not be good...... we have a barn cat, and I'm afraid he might eat the chicks. Maybe we will put up a fenced in run and have half of the chickens free range and the other half (including the broody and her chicks) on the fenced half. Our cat has went after one of our hens once last year, got her neck pretty good. Somehow she survived, though! I guess we got it cleaned up in time and medicated it. But, the cat still likes to chase them sometimes... ugh. But Maybe well do that as well to keep them safe. I hate to fence them in, but I want the chicks to be safe!

 

[downekc09]

After my hens bring the chicks off of the nest Mama usually keeps them in my coop for a couple of days before she take them outside. She does not try to take them back to the nest at night, she settles down on the coop floor with them somewhere.

When the hen is ready to take the chicks out of the nest, do they usually not ever take them back into the nest? Is the nest basically for hatching and that's really it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

When the hen is ready to take the chicks out of the nest, do they usually not ever take them back into the nest? Is the nest basically for hatching and that's really it?

My nests are up off of the floor, the chicks can't get back in. If the nest is low enough, she might us it at night. Or she might not. Mine do fine on the coop floor.

 

[RebekahTN]

Our coop is about 12' x 12', and we have a chain link fence that splits it in half (we took the door our for now so all chickens have access to both sides, but we can put the door up anytime to split in half). We have 17 hens, no roosters. They all free range during the day, and we coop them at night. The coop is actually a part of our barn, and there are two doors that lead to outside, about 1.5 feet up with a ramp leading out for both.

How do you have them separated? It doesn't seem to be by breed and since you don't have a rooster that wouldn't really matter anyway.... Doesn't seem to be by age...
Just curious.

The chicks would be able to get through that type of fencing unfortunately, even when they are quiet a bit bigger and it looks like there is no way they would fit. I ended up lining my fencing like that with chicken wire to keep the littles in that were being raised by their moms. It stressed the mommy hens out to much when the littles would get a bit to far away through the fence and they couldn't physically go get them back.
You don't have to go up very far, but make sure you don't have any holes underneath or between the sides of the panels.

 

[downekc09]

How do you have them separated? It doesn't seem to be by breed and since you don't have a rooster that wouldn't really matter anyway.... Doesn't seem to be by age...
Just curious.

The chicks would be able to get through that type of fencing unfortunately, even when they are quiet a bit bigger and it looks like there is no way they would fit. I ended up lining my fencing like that with chicken wire to keep the littles in that were being raised by their moms. It stressed the mommy hens out to much when the littles would get a bit to far away through the fence and they couldn't physically go get them back.
You don't have to go up very far, but make sure you don't have any holes underneath or between the sides of the panels.

Right now we do not have any of the hens separated from each other; we have all 17 together in the coop, and all 17 free range together outside. They go off in their little chick click groups haha! Yeah, we don't have a rooster, but we may raise one soon for protection of the hens later on. The hens' ages range from about 7 months to 4 years old. Inside of the coop, we took the door off of the chain link fence that is inside of the coop. We can easily put it back on. And right now we have some chicken wire about 2 feet up on the chain link fence in the coop, but I will check it and make sure I fix any gaps because I bet there are some! Thanks for your advice!