When will she kick them out of the nest?

[lazy gardener]

My broody hen is a great Mama. Her babies are 24 days old. She's done a great job taking care of her 10 chicks, and integrating them into the flock. I've kicked her and her clan out of their floor level broody pen. Hoping that she will take them to the roost. So far, no interest in that. She's bedding down in various corners. I have to block off the nest boxes every night to keep her and her clan from soiling the nests.

Broody #2 has a clutch of eggs that will be hatching on Sunday or Monday. (Which is why I kicked Broody #1 out of the floor level broody pen.)

So, here are my ?'s of the day:

1. How many chicks have your broody hens raised?

2. How long did the broody "mother" her chicks before she "kicked them to the curb"?

3. If you've had more than 1 broody at a time, did you keep them together with the rest of the flock, and were there conflicts between the 2 broodies?

 

[Harmony Fowl]

I can only answer the last question. I have two broodies right now, one with three and the other with four chicks, a week apart, both under two weeks old. There have been no conflicts. They seem pretty tolerant of the other chickens in general and haven’t seen them conflict with one another at all. They’re very tolerant of one another’s chicks and I see a baby go from one to the other sometimes when the flock is very active. The first let me relocate her when she first started sitting, so hers spent a few days in a brooder before I let them out into the flock. The second would not let me relocate her so hers hatched right into the flock. They have each their own sleeping quarters at night. They head to bed about an hour before everyone else and I lock them and their chicks away for protection from accidental injury by the flock and predators.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've have various broodies with different numbers of chicks. My most recent Wyandotte weaned and abandoned her kids at about 7 weeks. She started taking them to roost at about 3 weeks.

My bantams hens tend to stay on the floor longer, but generally take them to roost at about 5-8 weeks. Often they continue to mother until the chicks sexually mature.

I have had multiple broodies. They generally do their own thing with their kids.

I often separate out broodies with a fence for the first week or two before letting them go free in the flock to give chicks a chance to get stronger and learn to follow mom. The flock can sometimes be rough.

 

[lazy gardener]

TY. I'd love to hear input from other flock owners who've had more than one broody at the same time.

 

[aart]

Have only allowed 2 broodies to hatch.
One weaned chicks at about 8 weeks, they were hatched in early Feb during a cold year.
The other weaned at 4 weeks, they were hatched in mid Mar during a pretty warm year.
Both had chicks in with flock by 2-3 wo.
Neither taught the chicks to roost.

ETA: Broods were 6 and 4 respective and chicks slept in floor nest after mama went to roost...tho in second case they tried to go to main nests so I propped floor nest on top of a nearby roost.

Would never allow 2 broodies to hatch at same time, no space for separation or chicks or.... and have read the horror stories.

 

[song of joy]

My broody hens typically raise 6 to 12 chicks per hen, although one raised 14 last year. They generally "mother" the chicks for 5 to 7 weeks. During that time, the broody hens roost on the coop floor with the chicks.

This was the first year that I had two broody hens at the same time, but I intentionally staggered their hatches so that the 2nd broody's clutch hatched 4 weeks after the first hen's clutch. I did this to avoid some of the drama that can come from having multiple broodies with young chicks. There were no conflicts between the hens, but I can attribute this to 1) each hen having her own mini-coop to hatch eggs and roost in with her chicks, 2) lots of free-range space for the flock and hens with chicks (each hen began integrating her chicks into the flock when the chicks were one week of age), and 3) several weeks age difference between the two clutches of chicks. In both cases, the hens returned to the main coop when the chicks were 6 to 7 weeks old, at which time the chicks immediately began roosting on the roost bars in the mini-coops -- even though they had been floor-roosting with the hen up until that time.

(Edited to add: All of my experience is with large-fowl broodies and chicks.)

 

[lazy gardener]

Today, I removed a hen from the flock. She is a PBR who has developed "masculine" tendencies. A bit of sickle developing in her tail, comb and wattles bright red, and I believe it's the hen who crowed a few times about a month ago. She has decided that chasing chicks is a fun thing to do. I have decided that is not the case. So, she was taken for jail house visitation with Goliath. He's been put in a separate coop b/c he's hard on the hen's backs. At last check, Goliath was showing her the "amenities". Had taken her up into the loft to see the nesting opportunities.

I took Broody #2 out of her raised broody pen for a last leg stretch before going "into lock down". While she was out, I did some minor repairs on her pen. Then, I lifted out her wood crate nest box and put it into the floor level broody pen. I figured that if she got upset about the nest box being moved, I could always scoot it back into the raised pen. When I set her into the floor level pen, she groused a bit. Then, saw her eggs, lifted up her skirts and settled back down for the duration.

So, here's hoping that she will complete her incubation in the new location without any hic-cups. This area can be opened up to allow her and chicks out into their own private run.

Hopefully, by the time they outgrow this spot, Broody #1 will have taken her babies to the roosts.

 

[lazy gardener]

Tonight, I removed an other hen from the flock. An other PBR decided she'd like to be broody. I have decided that is not going to be happening. So, she has gone for an extended vacation with Goliath. His little harem of mis-fits is growing.

What is it with these gals? I've dealt with 3 broody PBR (possibly 1 was a repeat offender), 2 Colombian Wyandottes, and a Black Australorpe.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've had a continual stream of broodies too, though it's normal here.

 

[lazy gardener]

Update: The 2 BR who are visiting Goliath laid eggs this morning, in the DL on floor of run. So, the "masculine" hen is still laying, and the hen who was toying with being broody is just playing the game for now.

Meanwhile, in the big coop, mayhem reigns this morning. Hens were piled up at the nest boxes, with 3 hens fighting over the box I pulled the "wanna-be" broody out of last night. There were already several eggs in that box. There were 3 hens stomping around, voicing their displeasure that they couldn't find a box to suit their needs. One of them was trying to squish between wall and the broody pen cover. (the broody pen includes the 3 lower boxes, with a 2" x 2" hdw cloth cover which bumps the space out an other 3' x 4') I grabbed her and stuffed her into the now empty elevated broody pen and shut the door. She got busy, madly scritching and scratching around in the bedding, and completely buried herself under the hay, yelling all the whole time.

After feeding all the birds, I came back to let the hen out of the raised broody pen, (no egg) and paused to check on Broody #2. She has at least one peep this morning. Her chicks are not due until at least tomorrow afternoon!

All of this activity in the viscinity of broody #2 this morning makes me wonder if there is some pheromone release that may cause the rest of the hens in a flock to get hormonal when one of their members is in Mommy mode.