Can I take chicks away from their mother?

[sagehound]

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!

Thank you for the thorough answer. I have raised two sets of chicks with my broody hen and I thought it was the best thing ever. Especially compared to the amount of work I had to do to raise my initial chicks. However, I have a friend that wants some chicks so I had my broody hen sit on eggs and hatch them. I was concerned that I would really hurt her if I took the chicks before she was done raising them.

 

[0die]

why is this even being asked??? If you got a momma hen hatching ur eggs...just let her do what she was born to do...stay outta the way...you can do no good and a lot of harm trying to mess with mother nature.

Only if mamma dies or rejects them should you need to get involved...IMO

 

[sagehound]

why is this even being asked??? If you got a momma hen hatching ur eggs...just let her do what she was born to do...stay outta the way...you can do no good and a lot of harm trying to mess with mother nature.

Only if mamma dies or rejects them should you need to get involved...IMO

I am giving the babies to someone else. They want them when they are babies and not 8 weeks old. Otherwise I agree, I would always just leave them with the mom.

 

[0die]

it was in reference to the original question.

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

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!

i have an issue with my broody hen....she is sitting on an egg for 10 days now and i just recently got some other eggs i want her to hatch, they will be 10 days apart,, can i take that first hatched baby away from her and let her sit on the eggs that will hatch 10 days later, im afraid she may abandon the new eggs.....i dont have an incubator...pls help

 

[Ridgerunner]

It might work, it might not. I've never tried it but a few people on her have posted they were successful doing that. Some also reported failure.

You only have one egg started. It might or might not hatch. If it does not, you should be OK. You can candle it and see if it is developing. I probably would not have the willpower to do this, but even if it is developing you could remove it and toss it, making it a sacrifice for the greater good. Glad I don't have to make that decision.

 

[kgby13]

why is this even being asked??? If you got a momma hen hatching ur eggs...just let her do what she was born to do...stay outta the way...you can do no good and a lot of harm trying to mess with mother nature.

Only if mamma dies or rejects them should you need to get involved...IMO

Last time I left the chick with mother hen, it got packed to death by another hen.

 

[Abbyandherchicks]

Will the hen let me hold her chicks and spend time with them? What age should I move them into a brooder with/without her?

 

[Abbyandherchicks]

I want to have pet hens and laying hens. I feel if I take the chicks away from her Mum I can bond with them more and they will learn to be friendly. What should I do? I don't want to take them away from her. I also can't look after her and the chicks at home. Im going to a differnet property, I was thinking of taking the babies with me and look after them myself. I have three kids, and they would also love to have this experience. What should I do? Please help!

 

[Nz chicken lady]

I want to have pet hens and laying hens. I feel if I take the chicks away from her Mum I can bond with them more and they will learn to be friendly. What should I do? I don't want to take them away from her. I also can't look after her and the chicks at home. Im going to a differnet property, I was thinking of taking the babies with me and look after them myself. I have three kids, and they would also love to have this experience. What should I do? Please help!

Keep mum with them and interact with them regularly. That’s what I did and the babies are friendly and my little one got to have the full experience while mum still got babies and taught them all of the chicken things they need to know