What will mother pullet do after you take away her chicks?

[Nenad]

I have 3 broodies, one which all chick that hatch I will keep(pure bred ones), other sitting on mine backyard eggs and third who will also sit on backyard eggs. Now I can't keep all of them but I want to give away or sell backyard ones once they hatch. I was wondering can I give them/sell then about one week or two weeks after they hatched? What will mother do? How long will she look for them and can it be done?

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I have 3 broodies, one which all chick that hatch I will keep(pure bred ones), other sitting on mine backyard eggs and third who will also sit on backyard eggs. Now I can't keep all of them but I want to give away or sell backyard ones once they hatch. I was wondering can I give them/sell then about one week or two weeks after they hatched? What will mother do? How long will she look for them and can it be done?

I would personally not remove them that soon, everyone involved will be upset. Very upset. A hen will naturally end her mothering relationship with the chicks somewhere between 4-8 weeks old, depending on the temperatures, the individual hen, and whatever hens use to make seemingly random choices (I've got one hen who ditches them at 4 weeks in springtime and 9 weeks in autumn).

If you want them gone so young you're better to hatch in incubator or just not hatch at all.

That's my opinion. I know some people remove the chicks and raise them in brooders but I find that truly horrifying and heartbreaking.

You can get more money from them when sold older. I sell mine between 8 and 12 weeks.

 

[Nenad]

I would personally not remove them that soon, everyone involved will be upset. Very upset. A hen will naturally end her mothering relationship with the chicks somewhere between 4-8 weeks old, depending on the temperatures, the individual hen, and whatever hens use to make seemingly random choices (I've got one hen who ditches them at 4 weeks in springtime and 9 weeks in autumn).

If you want them gone so young you're better to hatch in incubator or just not hatch at all.

That's my opinion. I know some people remove the chicks and raise them in brooders but I find that truly horrifying and heartbreaking.

You can get more money from them when sold older. I sell mine between 8 and 12 weeks.

I will probably leave them with mother untill she abandons them but I was wondering since 3 broodies is hard to care for(for me).

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I fully understand that! I've just had 3 broodies at once and it was a bit much, 15 chicks between them. You'll be ok though I'm sure, now the chicks are older it's no big deal (except for how much poop there is everywhere!).

 

[theoldchick]

You don't have to remove all the chicks at once. I've removed chicks and though there was a bit of motherly clucking going on, the hens were back to normal in less than a week.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I have 3 broodies, one which all chick that hatch I will keep(pure bred ones), other sitting on mine backyard eggs and third who will also sit on backyard eggs. Now I can't keep all of them but I want to give away or sell backyard ones once they hatch. I was wondering can I give them/sell then about one week or two weeks after they hatched? What will mother do? How long will she look for them and can it be done?

@Nenad Welcome from New Orleans. I hope everything works out for the best. I have only had two hens with chicks at one time, and each was very protective of their chicks, until they were ready to be left alone. Otherwise I had no problem integrating them. Good luck and I hope you are enjoying BYC.

 

[trudyg]

To me, the poop is the problem. But, if mama will raise them and you have room, I'd let her. She takes them out and the poop is in the yard, so you can hose it every evening after they go in and it's not so bad. But, chicks in the coop for weeks? Oh, the mess. I won't do Cornish Cross after that experience!

 

[BDutch]

If you want to sell young chicks you can take away some eggs away in the night from the broodies. Put these eggs in an incubator. This way it’s okay to sell young chicks.

Another possibility is to sell the mother with the chicks.