Do You Take Newborn Chicks Away From A Broody Hen??

[Mojo Chick'n]

I prefer to let the mama raise them - BUT, if you have a hen who is maybe a great broody but a poor mama afterwards, then let her hatch and take the chicks.

I have one like this. She goes broody if you just hold an egg up and show it to her - but she is sort of wild and doesn't stop think that her babies can't go through three foot tall wet grass in the mud like she can. She had 6 babies this spring, lost all but one of them, one by one. She is currently sitting eggs again, I intend to take the babies when they hatch this time.

meri

 

[dancingbear]

Not only do I not take away the chicks from the moms, but I try to time incubator hatches with the hen's hatches, so I can foist off the incubator chicks on the new moms and not have to raise them myself.

Right now, I have 7 moms raising chicks, poults, and keets. They have traded chicks around all over, so some have groups ranging in age from 1 week to 3 weeks. They seem to do just fine.

I did have 2 hens, the first ever in over 15 years of raising chickens, that turned out to be Psycho Mom and Clueless Mom. One wouldn't quit trying to hatch them after they hatched. I think her instincts were faulty and she kept treating them like eggs, trying to turn them, etc., and every chick that hatched under her died. The other wanted to keep chicks under her constantly, and would peck them, -HARD!-if they tried to come out. Whenever chicks escaped from her, they hid in corners.

I removed them both, the chicks from Psycho Mom are with other hens, except one who was too afraid and he's in a brooder in the house, with a few others there wasn't room for with the hens. I pretty much maxed out all my hens with chicks. So the extras that would have been raised by the bad hens, I'm raising.

 

[jthayerkatz]

Thanx to everyone.

great answers and priceless advice.
you guys are the best

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I wholeheartedly agree with the above advice. Why do the work when you can get an animal to do it for you? I wish my birds could take over more of the chicken chores, don't you?

For those of you who let the Mama hens & her chicks stay with your adult flock, what do you do about starter feed for the chicks? And how do you keep the chicks from eating the layer feed? That's my big issue. My chickens, perversely, will always go for the feed they're NOT supposed to have. The adults gobble the chick starter like it's candy and the chicks keep snatching mouthfuls of the layer feed.

I keep my hens & chicks together in a separate pen, and put the chick feed there. I can't do anything to prevent the bantams from hopping over the fence & getting into the chick starter, but at least the big standard birds aren't gorging themselves on it.

Also, the mama hens usually are ready to leave their chicks after 4-6 weeks, they hop back over the fence & rejoin the adult flock. I keep the chicks together, separated from the adult flock, until they're grown.

Sometimes I'll let a Mama hen free-range the yard with her chicks. They really seem to enjoy it. But I know there's a risk that some of the chicks may get lost or preyed upon. Although the Mama hens are fierce protectors, they also seem to take a long view on the success of their clutch. If one or more get lost, can't keep up, or are picked off, they seem to consider it just the cost of doing business. If they are chicks I really want to keep, or a hen I don't want to lose to a daytime predator, I'll keep them confined to the pen.

But I would always let the hen raise the chicks, unless, like DancingBear said, I find the rare Broody Dearest hen.

 

[Judy]

This was fun! Psycho Mom, Clueless Mom, Broody Dearest....

On feed: Feed everyone what the chicks need, starter, grower, or starter/grower. Moms aren't laying eggs while raising chicks, anyway. You can put out a bit of oyster shell and Mom will get it if she needs it. Chicks will eat little if any. Obviously, this is when you don't mix grit and oyster shell. Mama can also make do with the smaller grit for the chicks for a while. And starter/grower is actually a more appropriate food for a roo than layer is.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I give my hens with chicks starter feed in their separate pen. But what do folks do that let the hens & chicks stay in the main pen with the rest of the adult flock? Do they all get starter feed, with oyster shell as supplement free-choice for the layers? I am reluctant to do that because starter is more expensive than layer feed, and I am broke and a cheapskate too.

 

[Junkmanme]

Totally agree with "Ridgerunner"!

I suspect that "DancingBear" culled the hens called Clueless Mom and Psycho Mom.......I know that I would have!

My broody hen, Mopsy (a Buff Orpington) is a Great Momma and a Great Layer! (But, she's "mean as HELL" IF she doesn't get things "her way". (Reminds me of some girlfriends that I DIDN'T marry.)

There ain't room for more than ONE "Alpha" anywhere!

Yep, my pistol is "loaded".

"THE ALPHA" Junkmanme

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't have a good way to keep chicks out of the hen's feed. If you have a hanging feeder, you can try keeping it up high enough to make it hard for the chicks to get to, but they grow awfully fast. That won't work for long.

To keep the hens out of the chick's feed, put the feed where the chicks can get but the hens cannot. Chicks can get through a 2-1/2" hole but hens cannot although they can stick their head in. Use a milk crate with holes cut in it for the chicks access, build a crate out of slabs with the 2-1/2" openings, whatever you have handy, and put the feed far enough back that the hens can't reach.

I don't have any good solutions to the real problem, other than what ddawn said.

 

[Chirpy]

I have always let my broodies raise their own chicks. I keep them in a separate area from the rest of the flock - but right next to them (just chain link between them) and then after the two weeks I put them in with the rest of the flock during the day but still keep them separate at night. Usually when the chicks are about five weeks old they start going into the coop to roost with the whole flock at night also.

My momma's have been great so far and done an excellent job protecting their little chicks.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I gave up trying to separate the feed. Like someone else said, the hens gobble up the starter feed. Twice a day when I feed, I put some starter in a little bowl in an area where the peep likes to hang out and the layer feed goes in the duck pen. It's more of a community feed pan and the chickens usually eat it before the ducks even get any. Mama and baby like to hang out in there too so I have no idea how much starter it's really eating. They free range all day so at least it's getting other food too.

Oh - the one thing I thought was really cute: I saw mama biting grass into small sections and setting them in front of Little Peep to eat.

I think Little Peep (as it is affectionately known) is 3 or 4 weeks old now and I've noticed that mama is backing off a little. She's there when he/she needs her but otherwise on its own. I have really enjoyed watching the whole interaction.

Just took these now:

And the chickens in the duck pen eating all their feed...poor ducks...