Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Pavlodge on July 16, 2014, 15:15
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I have raised chicks before from an incubator & used lamps etc to keep them warm . However a few weeks ago I noticed 2 of my hens were Broody & sitting on eggs so I left them to it & didn't collect those eggs . On friday I noticed one of the Hens out in the woods with its chick & then the following day The other one came out with her chick . I have put both mother Hens & chicks in a secure outdoor coop off the ground on a base board & they seem fine , Mothers are looking after them well .
My question is How long should I keep mother Hens & chicks together like this ?
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until she gets bored, but she may return.
Mine are in a coop with run area with a ramp down. They only go upstairs at night. Currently 2 weeks old. She was giving them grass at 2 days, but all on chick crumb.
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I recently posted a similar question. Last year one of my hens went broody and hatched 4 chicks which I just left her with, although my hens free range it is fully enclosed & I let her get on with it so I didn't really see when she left them to there own devices. This year my broody hatched 3 Buff Orpingtons (all female) but I kept them in a separate pen, when the broody was very protective, but when they reached 6 weeks she left them and re-joined the main flock, so I guess the answer is she will decide.
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Six weeks or so must be quite common, that's when my broody usually stops looking after her chicks. I never bother to separate her and the chicks from the others, but then I only have 3 chickens and they are all softies, the other two dont really peck the chicks (they might give them the odd warning peck but they dont hurt them). Like Prod my chickens free range in a biggish space but that space is fully enclosed so I just let them run about together...but I keep mother hen and chicks in a separate bit when the chicks are really tiny because we have a sparrowhawk in the area and lots of cats!