Multiple mammas?

[Katieclucker]

We have allowed 3 clucky Silkies to sit on eggs, after losing some of our little flock to a predator. They swap around on the nests. Is this a problem? Do they have to create a bond with their eggs/chicks and stick with one nest of eggs to do so?
Or will they all want to mother all of the chicks, and could this cause problems, jealousy etc?
Have any of you raised chicks allowing multiple mothers to care for the chicks?

 

[sourland]

Sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not. One common problem is that all hens frequently leave their nests with the first group of chicks that hatch.

 

[SilverBirds]

I let some of my Cochins and Seramas co-nest and never again. Many of the eggs ended up not developing or dying early on because the moms would squabble and change nests and the eggs would get cold. Once one of the chicks hatched, the moms immediately started fighting over it. The poor baby got caught in the middle and was almost smashed. After that, I separated both hens into their own nests and divvied up the remaining eggs. Now I only let one hen brood at a time and break the rest, or I make sure multiple broodies are separated from each other.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can find threads on here (with photos) where multiple hens have hatched chicks together on the same nest and worked together to raise those chicks. You can find where hens have had separate nests in the same coop with separate hatch dates and done fine.

You can find threads on here where broody hens have killed chicks that hatched under a different broody. You can find threads where two broodies fought over hatching eggs or baby chicks to see who got to raise them. I had two that did that as the eggs started pipping. Half the eggs were destroyed.

I cannot tell you what will happen with yours. They may do great, they may not. It has to be your decision on how you want to proceed.

 

[NatJ]

You can find threads on here (with photos) where multiple hens have hatched chicks together on the same nest and worked together to raise those chicks. You can find where hens have had separate nests in the same coop with separate hatch dates and done fine.

You can find threads on here where broody hens have killed chicks that hatched under a different broody. You can find threads where two broodies fought over hatching eggs or baby chicks to see who got to raise them. I had two that did that as the eggs started pipping. Half the eggs were destroyed.

I cannot tell you what will happen with yours. They may do great, they may not. It has to be your decision on how you want to proceed.

I had one time when two hens were willing to raise chicks in the same pen-- but for whatever reason, all the chicks kept ending up with one hen at bedtime. I watched, and apparently she was much better at making the right kind of clucking sound (or something like that.) So there would be chicks under her, and trying to shove in from the sides, even though the other hen was just a foot or two away and was also clucking to the chicks. Since the weather was chilly, and it was impossible for all the chicks to fit under one hen, I ended up separating the hens and dividing up the chicks. Everything went smoothly after they were in separate pens with an appropriate number of chicks each.

 

[Penpal]

It would be interesting to know if the problems or positives are related to the breed of the mamma hens.

 

[NatJ]

It would be interesting to know if the problems or positives are related to the breed of the mamma hens.

Interesting point. I would expect individual hen personality would be a bigger thing than breed, but I don't know for sure.

With mine, the Black Tailed Buff Japanese Bantam was the one that called all the chicks to her, and the Old English Game bantam (I forget the color) was the one the chicks ignored. Neither hen had a problem with the idea of sharing a pen with each other and all the chicks.