will a broody do fine with the rest of the flock

[opbado]

this my first time rasing chicken I have five leg white horn leg horns & five buff orps pullrts they are 16 weeks old and & have not laided their first egg yet my quistion is
will a broody hen will do fine with the rest of the flock .are will she need to be separated .

 

[Pinky]

If you are worried you can separate the broody but you don't have to. I don't move my broody hens and the other birds know to stay away when a broody hen is around.

 

[opbado]

Okay. Thank you for the information. I am new at this and just wondered if I needed to build another hen house.

 

[kano]

I always separate the broodies .

 

[Mrs. K]

I think it really depends on space. If your hens are crowded, or even a bit tight, it will make it harder on the broody hen. If you can let your flock out durning the day to free range, it is much less of a problem. Some hens are tough enough to protect their clutch, some are not. I have had a 4 broody hens, one left and I thought she had been gotten by a predator, and she came back with chicks

One i moved, and she went back to 'her' chosen nest, so I slipped chicks under her, and she raised them in the flock, and the last two, I just left alone, and they raised in the flock. But it was summer, and I let them free range most days. MrsK

 

[gritsar]

Mrs. K :

I think it really depends on space. If your hens are crowded, or even a bit tight, it will make it harder on the broody hen. If you can let your flock out durning the day to free range, it is much less of a problem. Some hens are tough enough to protect their clutch, some are not. I have had a 4 broody hens, one left and I thought she had been gotten by a predator, and she came back with chicks

One i moved, and she went back to 'her' chosen nest, so I slipped chicks under her, and she raised them in the flock, and the last two, I just left alone, and they raised in the flock. But it was summer, and I let them free range most days. MrsK

Agreed. I crated my broody, inside the coop, while she was setting and for about ten days after the chicks hatched, but now they are part of the flock and doing just fine.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=451497​

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have a broody setting on eggs now, in a regular nest box in one of my coops. The other girls leave her alone.

When the chicks hatch, I shall close the coop off completely or move them to another coop where they will be separate for awhile.