Giving chicks to a bunch of broodies?

[Slothinc]

Hello! I have been incubating eggs for 2 weeks and I have a broody girl who has been sitting for about 3 weeks. I had planned to give her some of the babies to raise. In fact I had her sitting on some fertilized eggs… but this past week, FOUR additional hens went broody.

I only have 3 nest boxes so all 5 hens are all just crammed in there. I removed the fertilized eggs from the original broody because they were bound to get smashed. (I found a smashed egg in there, thankfully it was not one of the developing chicks!)

So now my question is, do I give a few chicks to each broody right after they hatch? Do I give the whole group of 5 girls a bunch of chicks to co-raise? The ladies are 4 silkies and 1 Orpington.

In the past when I had 2 broodies at the same time, when the eggs hatched under the first girl, the second broody decided to leave her nest and co parent with the other hen. I just don’t know how this will play out with so many broody girls. I have 1 week to figure it out! I don’t mind giving them each a chick or two. I just don’t know if it will work super well!

 

[Debbie292d]

It depends if you want to have this many broodies continue to co-parent raising chicks for the next 6-8 weeks. I've had two do it, where the chicks ran to either hen, and it worked out fine, but I personally wouldn't want any more than that tied up with these chicks. That's a lot of non-egg laying multiplied by every one you allow some chicks rather than breaking from being broody.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I personally would be careful. Sometimes broody hens will raise chicks together, and other times they will try to kill other hens chicks. Sometimes broody hens don't even want to raise chicks and have no idea what they are. They just want to be broody.So many things can go wrong or right depending on the individual temperament of your hens.

I personally would pick one or two hens and see how it goes. I would keep them separated for a week or two so they can bond with their chicks. I would break the rest of the broody hens.

 

[sean_wonder]

Silkies are notoriously awesome moms— I would give chicks to only one or two Silkies personally and break the rest. I almost had three moms at once, and out of nowhere my girl Goose started to attack her chick while he was hatching from egg I gave her. I slipped the egg under Princess Laya before he fully unzipped and it thankfully all worked out… the less moms you have to deal with, the less likelihood of a fatality at the beak of another mom. Like @oldhenlikesdogs said, some hens just want to set without dealing with actual motherhood… lol

 

[Slothinc]

Thanks everyone!! I really appreciate the advice! I will try to break 3 of the hens and keep 2 broodies (the original broody, and one more.) I haven’t ever had more than two broody at the same time! I only have 10 laying girls, so it doesn’t really make sense to keep 5 of them tied up with chicks.

 

[Slothinc]

Should I keep the two sisters (hatchmates) as the two broody? Will they likely get along better? I’ll probably let them raise the chicks together because it worked so well last time to do that..

One of the co parenting hens from last time is a broody, however I don’t think she is great friends with any of the other broodies as she is 5 years old and the others are all just under a year.

I am leaning towards keeping the original broody and her sister and breaking everyone else. They are both satin frizzles.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Should I keep the two sisters (hatchmates) as the two broody? Will they likely get along better? I’ll probably let them raise the chicks together because it worked so well last time to do that..

One of the co parenting hens from last time is a broody, however I don’t think she is great friends with any of the other broodies as she is 5 years old and the others are all just under a year.

I am leaning towards keeping the original broody and her sister and breaking everyone else. They are both satin frizzles.

You would know best the dynamics between your hens. You definitely would do better with hens that got along before. If it doesn't work well you can go down to just one hen and break the other.

 

[Slothinc]

You would know best the dynamics between your hens. You definitely would do better with hens that got along before. If it doesn't work well you can go down to just one hen and break the other.

Thanks!! I do think the sisters will be a good team. They have been sharing a nest box too. So I’ll keep them together. Everyone else just got put up on the roost… they weren’t too happy lol!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Do you know how to break broodiness? aart has an article on it.

 

[Slothinc]

Do you know how to break broodiness? aart has an article on it.

Usually I start by just moving them up to the roost at night. Sometimes that breaks them. If they need it, I will put them in a broody jail! I will look up that article though, in case some of these girls are stubborn!