Can I take chicks away from their mother?

[chickymomma1234]

Hi guys, I have been waiting for a broody hen for a while but i have also been wondering whether when they hatch, if i will be able to take them away from their mum and raise them myself under a heat lamp.

please help

 

[chickymomma1234]

Ok, thanks for the advice. I've decided to, if a hen goes broody, let her keep the chicks and not take any away. i will send you guys pics of the chicks and momma if i get some (i hope i do)

 

[chickens really]

Why?.....The Chicks do so much better being raised by Momma.........She has waited 21 days for these Chicks........She will get totally stressed out...The Chicks will be imprinted to her sounds she makes.......It will be stressful for all involved........I only ever raise Chicks with my Broody Hens.........


Cheers!

 

[STxBCG]

I puty broody back in the coop with her chicks 2 days after they hatched. Neither she nor the chicks have been bothered by any of the other birds, including the roosters. I did put her nest where the other chickens could still socialize with her during the day and they did stop by and visit. I think this helped them to not forget about her.

Having now had chicks with a broody vs raising them in a brooder, I'll take the broody e every time. In fact, I even slipped 3 more incubator chicks under her a couple of days after she hatched hers. At less than a week, the broody's chicks are light years ahead of the 4 week old chicks I have in the brooder.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[chickens really]

My Chicks that are raised by Momma are very social with humans...Momma taught them to come running to me when I enter the Coop......My Birds all like me...I yell chick chick and all my Birds come running......... Mine are fantastic...I have more due May 2nd...Great hen..

 

[SueT]

If I had had a broody to raise my last chicks, I could have avoided a LOT of big hassles. The biggest being trying to integrate them into the flock, which began with building a temporary enclosure in the coop as well as in the run, then removing it later and watching the hens attack the pullets.....why go thru this if you have such a wonderful alternative a mama hen to do all the work.

 

[chickens really]

i already have the heat lamp for them, and i would like the broody with the flock as soon as possible. 

It is a lot easier to integrate the Chicks with Momma than doing it later on....... Momma will look after them...wait till the Chicks are a week or two and put them with the flock....

 

[Ridgerunner]

You certainly can take the chicks away and brood them yourself. I let my broody hens raise the chicks with the flock but others do what you are talking about or do other totally different things. We all have our own goals, set-ups, and reasons for doing what we do.

I personally would wait until the hen brings the chicks off the nest. Before they eggs even external pip but after internal pip, the unhatched chick starts talking to the hen, letting her know another chick is on the way. The hen knows when the hatch is over much better than I do. I’ve had broody hens bring the chicks off the nest within 24 hours of the first one hatching, I’ve had hens wait three days to bring them off. Since she is talking to her unhatched chicks I figure she knows more about what she is doing than I do.

But some people like to remove the chicks as they dry off. To be honest I don’t understand that logic, but people do a lot of things I don’t understand. There is no one set way to do any of this. There is nothing right or wrong about how we do it, they can all work. They are just different management techniques.

If you take the chicks away from her before she brings them off the nest she may or may not just stay on the nest and not break from being broody. You may need to put her through a broody buster. If you wait until she brings them off the nest it is highly probably she will break from being broody without the broody buster.

Whether you put her in a broody buster or she breaks without it when you take the chicks away, she will be upset. If you put a broody in a broody buster without her hatching or ever giving her eggs she will be upset. If you take a hen out of your flock and lock her up, she will be upset. We do that stuff all the time. She’ll get over it, probably in two to three days. Chickens are prey animals, in the wild it’s not that unusual for a broody hen to lose her chicks to a predator. When that happens it’s instinctive for her to break from being broody and go back to laying eggs so she can hatch some more. That’s just nature’s way.

She has used up a lot of her internal reserves while she was broody since she was not eating and drinking a lot while on the nest. She has to replace those reserves before she will start to lay again. She also has to change hormones and make some changes to her internal egg making factory to get ready to lay again. The sooner she breaks from being broody the sooner she will start to lay again.

Good luck!

 

[chickens really]

Of course you can take them away...........But why?.....It is so awesome to see Momma raise them...They are much stronger and smarter........My Rooster and other Hens take turns caring for the Chicks...Its a great thing..

 

[chickens really]

My Chicks that are raised by Momma are very social with humans...Momma taught them to come running to me when I enter the Coop.. ....My Birds all like me...I yell chick chick and all my Birds come running.... ..... Mine are fantastic...I have more due May 2nd...Great hen..

Good point.  The chicks will tend to react to people the same way their mamma does, as they're watching her for cues.  

Yes...Momma knows best....All animals feed off our energy...If we are hyper? So are they....Uf we are fearful they are Leary .......Calm and everything is great!