Is it wrong to take chicks from a broody hen?

[Jmwah_12]

I have three broody hens that have been sitting on eggs for a while. (I’m okay with them being broody) but, lately where I live we’ve been hit with very hard rainstorms and blizzards, and I had to take the babies that hatched out away from the hens due to the severe weather. Is that wrong? I have several hens and was afraid that the other hens would pick on the chicks on top of the severe weather and the chicks freezing to death. Any advice on what I should do? The hens seem accepting of the baby chicks when I put them back with the hens, but the extreme weather might have an effect on whether the chicks imprint on the mothers because it might last up into next week. What should i do?

 

[fluffycrow]

Taking chicks from a broody is totally fine. The chicks *should* also be fine under the protection of a broody when it comes to getting picked on by the other members of the flock, but that does depend on your setup as well. If you're going to take away the chicks for a week, the hens will probably not accept them back. If you absolutely want the broodies to raise the chicks and are scared of the weather, maybe create a little space where the hens can brood the chicks in a more controlled environment. How cold is it?

 

[SourRoses]

As long as she's a good mom that pays attention to her chicks she should be quite capable of keeping them warm in any weather.
For the sake of your adults I hope there's no snow and rain falling on their heads in the coop... or do you mean that they take the chicks outside and there's no broody area?

 

[chickengirl1278]

Do you have a separate, indoor enclosure you could move the hens and babies to? Keeping mother and babies together is important (within reason), so it might be necessary to keep them all somewhere where the weather won't interfere with their time together. If you don't, you probably don't wanna risk any chicks dying because of extreme weather. Either way, don't worry too much about breaking the chicks' bond with the mother hen if you need to keep them separate for a small amount of time. As long as they spend a decent amount of time with the hen during their first days, they should be sufficiently imprinted!

 

[Jmwah_12]

Taking chicks from a broody is totally fine. The chicks *should* also be fine under the protection of a broody when it comes to getting picked on by the other members of the flock, but that does depend on your setup as well. If you're going to take away the chicks for a week, the hens will probably not accept them back. If you absolutely want the broodies to raise the chicks and are scared of the weather, maybe create a little space where the hens can brood the chicks in a more controlled environment. How cold is it?

I live in California, but we’re being hit by a winter storm so it’s been below 40 and non stop rain and extreme wind and snow. The hens are pretty fierce though so I’m afraid if I move them they’ll break out from being broody.

 

[Jmwah_12]

As long as she's a good mom that pays attention to her chicks she should be quite capable of keeping them warm in any weather.
For the sake of your adults I hope there's no snow and rain falling on their heads in the coop... or do you mean that they take the chicks outside and there's no broody area?

My coop has been boarded up with tarps and metal flooring but the rain still leaks through because of how severe the rain has been here. They have plenty of dry spots but the weather has just been very cold and wet which for baby chicks is what im afraid is what will kill them

 

[fluffycrow]

Below 40 isn't really cold, unless you mean -40. As long as you have a couple of dry spots, they should be fine

 

[Dlcna30]

I too took the chicks away but it snowed here today. The hens would not have been happy cooped in my basement. I live in Maine so as soon as they had to leave the nest it would have been too cold even inside the coop with a brood heater.