Broody Hens

[condiggy]

I only have 3 hens and 2 have gone broody so I have placed them in separate nest boxes with fertilised eggs under them. I pretty new to this and was wondering if the other hen will attack the chicks when they are born or should I completely separate all 3 hens. Thanks

 

[DobieLover]

Welcome to BYC.
The lone hen may decide to go broody too. It's catching.
There is no reason to think she will attack the chicks when they hatch.
You may have issues with 2 broodies marching around with their chicks. They may fight with each other.
How large is your setup? Can you post pictures of it?
Are the nests off the ground? If so, you will need to secure screening or hardware cloth the night before the hatch to prevent chicks from falling out. They mother and brood will need to be moved to a ground nest after the hatch.

 

[condiggy]

Welcome to BYC.
The lone hen may decide to go broody too. It's catching.
There is no reason to think she will attach the chicks when they hatch.
You may have issues with 2 broodies marching around with their chicks. They may fight with each other.
How large is your setup? Can you post pictures of it?
Are the nests off the ground? If so, you will need to secure screening or hardware cloth the night before the hatch to prevent chicks from falling out. They mother and brood will need to be moved to a ground nest after the hatch.

Thanks . I have a pretty big setup and yes the nests are off the ground. Was thinking I may need to find a little brooder coop that's on the ground so the chicks can walk in and out safely. Thanks for the information I may have to rethink keeping them all together

 

[Ridgerunner]

I only have 3 hens and 2 have gone broody so I have placed them in separate nest boxes with fertilised eggs under them. I pretty new to this and was wondering if the other hen will attack the chicks when they are born or should I completely separate all 3 hens. Thanks

I cannot give you any guarantees as to what will happen with living animals. Each one is an individual and might do anything. Plus we all have different facilities, circumstances, and management techniques. These can all make a difference. To put it into perspective I typically have 3 or 4 broody hatches each year.

When the chicks hatch the other chickens usually leave the broody and her chicks alone. My mature roosters have never threatened the chicks, he might even help Mama take care of his babies. Occasionally a hen might show an interest in the new chicks. That usually looks like curiosity to me. But if Mama thinks a hen or another juvenile is threatening her babies she promptly whips butt. Other people on this forum have said that their broody hens don't always protect their babies and I believe them. As I said, each hen is an individual, you don't get guarantees. I typically let my broody hens hatch with the flock and another hen has never harmed a chick, but some of that is that Mama protects them. I don't know what yours will do.

Sometimes two different broodies can coexist. There have been many stories (with photos) where two or more broody hens have shared a nest and hatched chicks together, then worked together to raise those chicks. I have not seen this myself but some people on this forum say they have seen a hen kill the chicks that hatch under the other broody. That broody did not protect the chicks.

Sometimes the broody hens (whether on the same nest or two separate nests like yours) will fight over the chicks, not to kill them but wanting to raise them by themselves with no help. One time I had a hen go broody two days before another broody started hatching. When she heard the chicks start to hatch the second broody attacked the hatching hen, wanting to take over the nest. They fought and destroyed half of the eggs before they hatched. Since then I never let two broody hens have access to each other, whether on nests or raising baby chicks. Many people do and don't have problems but you can never tell what will actually happen.

My broody hens regularly hatch in nests either 2 feet or 4 feet above the coop floor. With one exception which I'll get to I have never had a chick fall out of the nest. When Mama wants to bring her chicks off of the nest she hops to the coop floor and tells the chicks to jump. They do and run to Mama. You are dealing with living animals so anything can happen but I've never had a chick hurt doing that.

I've had several broody hens bring her chicks off of the nest within 24 hours of the first chick hatching. Many wait an extra day. The longest I've see a hen hatched a chick late on a Monday. She did not bring her chicks off of the nest until very early Friday morning. All of the chicks were fine. I tend to trust my broody hens but I'll admit that time I was about ready to intervene.

With my nests that high they don't go back to the nest after the hen brings them off. The hen squats on the coop floor and the chicks sleep under her. She does not need a nest. If you provide a nest down there she might or might not use it.

My one exception. One time I let a hen hatch in a cat litter bucket four feet off of the coop floor. The top of that bucket was 7-1/2" x 11-1/2". Sometimes the first chicks that hatch climb up on Mama's back to play while they wait on the later ones to hatch. Four different times I had to pick a chick up off of the coop floor and put it back in the nest with Mama. It was probably the same chick. When it slid off of Mam's back she was so close to the side of the nest that the chick missed the nest and fell the four feet to the coop floor. Yes, it fell four feet four different times and was not injured. It's seeing things like that that keeps me from worrying about a chick being in a high nest. You would not believe some of the thigs I saw growing up on the farm with chickens hiding nests and hatching chicks. I worry a lot less than many people on this forum about a lot of things.

 

[condiggy]

I cannot give you any guarantees as to what will happen with living animals. Each one is an individual and might do anything. Plus we all have different facilities, circumstances, and management techniques. These can all make a difference. To put it into perspective I typically have 3 or 4 broody hatches each year.

When the chicks hatch the other chickens usually leave the broody and her chicks alone. My mature roosters have never threatened the chicks, he might even help Mama take care of his babies. Occasionally a hen might show an interest in the new chicks. That usually looks like curiosity to me. But if Mama thinks a hen or another juvenile is threatening her babies she promptly whips butt. Other people on this forum have said that their broody hens don't always protect their babies and I believe them. As I said, each hen is an individual, you don't get guarantees. I typically let my broody hens hatch with the flock and another hen has never harmed a chick, but some of that is that Mama protects them. I don't know what yours will do.

Sometimes two different broodies can coexist. There have been many stories (with photos) where two or more broody hens have shared a nest and hatched chicks together, then worked together to raise those chicks. I have not seen this myself but some people on this forum say they have seen a hen kill the chicks that hatch under the other broody. That broody did not protect the chicks.

Sometimes the broody hens (whether on the same nest or two separate nests like yours) will fight over the chicks, not to kill them but wanting to raise them by themselves with no help. One time I had a hen go broody two days before another broody started hatching. When she heard the chicks start to hatch the second broody attacked the hatching hen, wanting to take over the nest. They fought and destroyed half of the eggs before they hatched. Since then I never let two broody hens have access to each other, whether on nests or raising baby chicks. Many people do and don't have problems but you can never tell what will actually happen.

My broody hens regularly hatch in nests either 2 feet or 4 feet above the coop floor. With one exception which I'll get to I have never had a chick fall out of the nest. When Mama wants to bring her chicks off of the nest she hops to the coop floor and tells the chicks to jump. They do and run to Mama. You are dealing with living animals so anything can happen but I've never had a chick hurt doing that.

I've had several broody hens bring her chicks off of the nest within 24 hours of the first chick hatching. Many wait an extra day. The longest I've see a hen hatched a chick late on a Monday. She did not bring her chicks off of the nest until very early Friday morning. All of the chicks were fine. I tend to trust my broody hens but I'll admit that time I was about ready to intervene.

With my nests that high they don't go back to the nest after the hen brings them off. The hen squats on the coop floor and the chicks sleep under her. She does not need a nest. If you provide a nest down there she might or might not use it.

My one exception. One time I let a hen hatch in a cat litter bucket four feet off of the coop floor. The top of that bucket was 7-1/2" x 11-1/2". Sometimes the first chicks that hatch climb up on Mama's back to play while they wait on the later ones to hatch. Four different times I had to pick a chick up off of the coop floor and put it back in the nest with Mama. It was probably the same chick. When it slid off of Mam's back she was so close to the side of the nest that the chick missed the nest and fell the four feet to the coop floor. Yes, it fell four feet four different times and was not injured. It's seeing things like that that keeps me from worrying about a chick being in a high nest. You would not believe some of the thigs I saw growing up on the farm with chickens hiding nests and hatching chicks. I worry a lot less than many people on this forum about a lot of things.

Thank you very much for providing me with your experiences and I know some scenarios are different however this has put my mind at rest