I only have a couple of chickens and recently had two hens sharing a batch of eggs. Seven babies hatched. My question is: when could I safely remove the babies and rather keep them inside to enable the hens to start laying eggs sooner? I will keep the little once's under a light till its fine for them to rome outside. How long will it be before they start laying eggs again? Help plssss.
You could remove the chicks at any time and raise them under a light, but it would be cruel to the hens, in my opinion, to take their babies away after they've done all the work hatching them. I've had a hen lose her chicks to a predator attack once and she was never quite the same after that. She walked around for 2 days, calling them and crying and it was heart breaking to see. Hens generally wean their chicks after 6-7 weeks and resume laying shortly after. That's not too long to wait...
I wouldn't remove them, personally. I strongly feel broody raised chicks are so much healthier it's worth it to lose six weeks of eggs to ensure future health. That said, you can take the chicks any time. I don't know how long it will take for your hens to start laying again, I'd think a few weeks at least. Being broody is quite stressful on their bodies and they need a good recovery time before re-stressing with laying.
You can remove them anytime you want and put them under light. However, unless it is in the middle of summer, they will not resume laying for about 4 to 6 weeks anyway. With that in mind you may as well let her raise them this time of year.
