when to separate broody hen and her chicks

[cptbahama]

We have a blue-laced red wyandotte that went broody so we got her some fertilized eggs online. She hatched 3 of the 6 we got and all is well. I'd like to get her back in with our flock of layers so she can go back to egg laying. How long should I keep them together? The chicks are about 5 days old. I know we've had day old chicks before and we could care for them in our brooder with out the hen but I don't want to break the hen's heart.

 

[annanimal]

Well i wouldnt seperate them for a while, i think the mom will freak out...
I would say at the earliest, a month, i know that that seems like a long time but it really isnt!

 

[cptbahama]

the only real issue that comes to mind is the chicks need 90 degrees thru the second week and if i remove the hen i'll have to put a heat lamp out there cause it'll get to 70 at night. i just can't stomach the thought of putting out a heat lamp in the summer.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Why would you remove the hen? Put Mama and her chicks in with the flock. Having a mama integrate the chicks is one of the best parts about a broody hen. She'll wean them and get back to laying when they are about 5-7 weeks old.

Your chicks will be healthier and have a better relationship with the flock if you let Mama do it.

 

[cptbahama]

Really? That would be the easiest thing for me. But how do you keep the chicks from eating the layer feed and the hens from eating the chick starter feed?

 

[mtnviewfarms]

We had a Black Australorp go broody recently and she sat a clutch of fertile eggs laid by her
flockmate pullets and hens. She hatched out 7 chicks on Memorial Day.

There is no way I would have put she and the chicks in with my adult flock of 24 pullets and hens
and two Roosters as I feel sure the chicks would have been killed by the adult birds.

I could be all wrong but I didn't want to take any chances. Before the chicks hatched we put
all the adult birds into one side of the huge run/coop combo - all covered and extremely secure
and pred proof.

She was a great mom to the chicks and we wondered too when she should go back in with her
peers. On day 30 after she hatched them out she laid an egg in the nest. Two days before that
I knew she was going to lay very soon as she was back up cking out the nesting boxes and
previously since the hatch she had zero interest in anything but the chicks.

The whole month the adult birds and chicks could 'commune' through the chicken wire partitions
between the two sides of the coop/run but the chicks were safe from the adults.

On day 31 she laid her second egg post hatch and it was so strange - just the day before
she was so loving to the month old brood - they would even climb up on her back and ride
around! All of a sudden she started to peck at them and they would run away from her and
I knew it was time for her to rejoin her peers on the other side.

I opened to door between the two sides and she kept running up to the open door then back
toward the chicks then finally went on in with her peers and hasn't seemed to 'look back' or
be curious about her chicks at all.

The chicks - now fully feathered and so adorable - 6 pullets and one little Roo - am I lucky or what - ha - don't seem to miss her at all either so all is well.

Guess this is the long version of - Your Hen will let you know when she is ready to stop being
mom and ready to go back with the adult birds.

 

[cptbahama]

thank you for that

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

There is no way I would have put she and the chicks in with my adult flock of 24 pullets and hens
and two Roosters as I feel sure the chicks would have been killed by the adult birds.

Have you every tried to return them to the flock?

I disagree with you completely. When a hen is broody, she is at the top of the flock pecking order. Even the roosters won't mess with her. When she has chicks, there are hormones in her body that cause her to defend those chicks at all costs. As the chicks get older, those hormones lessen and she becomes a lot less protective. At about 5-7 weeks old, she'll abandon them completely.

If you put the broody and her chicks in the flock at 7-10 days old (some people have her hatch her clutch in the same coop as the rest of the flock so they're with the flock from day one) her hormones will be very high. She will protect the chicks and stop other hens from taking an interest. I've even seen my broody hen take food away from my alpha hen to give to her chicks. The roosters (and we have four) have no interest in the chicks whatsoever. If you wait until the chicks are feathered, they are going to have a much harder time without Mama to look out for them.

We have 75 hens and four or more rooster at any given time. We hatch almost all of our replacement birds under broody hens. We put Mama and her chicks into the chicken pasture as soon as we think they chicks can navigate the steps to the hen house, around 7 days old. We've never had a chick killed by a flock member except when we had a broody that was simply a bad Mama--she sat OK, but didn't care for her chicks and they had to be taken away from her and she was never allowed to hatch eggs again.

Remember, a hen is SUPPOSED to return to the flock after she sits. She wants the protection of the flock and the rooster for herself and her babies. Chickens are flock animals, and have been raising chicks a long time before humans decided that we know how to do it better. If a hen couldn't take her chicks back to the flock until they were fully feathered, chickens would have died out long ago. Mama hen is prey for every predator out there if she's by herself and can't fly away because of her chicks.

 

[gryeyes]

I absolutely agree with WalkingOnSunshine, and that's the practice in my flock too.

 

[Tuhmu]

Have you every tried to return them to the flock?

I disagree with you completely. When a hen is broody, she is at the top of the flock pecking order. Even the roosters won't mess with her. When she has chicks, there are hormones in her body that cause her to defend those chicks at all costs. As the chicks get older, those hormones lessen and she becomes a lot less protective. At about 5-7 weeks old, she'll abandon them completely.

If you put the broody and her chicks in the flock at 7-10 days old (some people have her hatch her clutch in the same coop as the rest of the flock so they're with the flock from day one) her hormones will be very high. She will protect the chicks and stop other hens from taking an interest. I've even seen my broody hen take food away from my alpha hen to give to her chicks. The roosters (and we have four) have no interest in the chicks whatsoever. If you wait until the chicks are feathered, they are going to have a much harder time without Mama to look out for them.

We have 75 hens and four or more rooster at any given time. We hatch almost all of our replacement birds under broody hens. We put Mama and her chicks into the chicken pasture as soon as we think they chicks can navigate the steps to the hen house, around 7 days old. We've never had a chick killed by a flock member except when we had a broody that was simply a bad Mama--she sat OK, but didn't care for her chicks and they had to be taken away from her and she was never allowed to hatch eggs again.

Remember, a hen is SUPPOSED to return to the flock after she sits. She wants the protection of the flock and the rooster for herself and her babies. Chickens are flock animals, and have been raising chicks a long time before humans decided that we know how to do it better. If a hen couldn't take her chicks back to the flock until they were fully feathered, chickens would have died out long ago. Mama hen is prey for every predator out there if she's by herself and can't fly away because of her chicks.

Agreed this is what I plan on doing in the event that one of my hens goes brooder, which will hopefully be next year.