What can we do differently next time? Broody hen questions

[ChickenLove6]

I don't know the answer to the age thing - to date I have never had the same hen go broody twice! And, honestly, I have never had a hen crush the eggs, so I'm probably not the best one to answer that.

I let the chicks stay with Mama Hen as long as she is willing to care for them. I had one hen who kept her 7 chicks with her until they were 15 weeks old and almost as big as she was. They had long since stopped trying to sleep under her, but they stayed together as a group during the day, and slept side-by-side at night. Another hen only kept her chicks 5 weeks before telling them they were on their own. So it is really variable. The lovely thing about a broody hen raising chicks (in my opinion) is that there is a seamless integration into the flock. The chicks stay with Mama and she teaches them to roost in the main coop, and as long as they're with her, I've never had any of my other birds bully them. By the time Mama decides to give them the boot, the rest of the flock has already accepted them as belonging, and as long as they respect their elders, I haven't had any issues. Even if they don't show the proper respect, a little peck here or there puts them in their place - they learn fast.

My silkie hen has been broody 5 times!! No wonder she is a silkie!