I think a hen has gone broody, what next?

One of my hens appears to have gone broody in a nesting box in my coop, and I would love to just let her do her thing and raise her chicks naturally.

What do I absolutely need to do to make sure she has everything she needs? What should I absolutely not do so I don't disturb her? Do I need to protect the young chicks from the other hens/rooster?

Any and all advice would be great.

What I try to do is collect eggs from under her and from the other nests.  Keep them at room temp till you have a good clutch for her.  Then put them under her at the same time and record the date.  That way they'll all hatch the same day or so (21 days later).  Maybe hens are smarter than I think and they can handle eggs of different ages but I'm not sure...

She should get very protective of the chicks and fight off anyone getting close.  Unless she's really low on the pecking order...  I have a rubbermaid style tote with a chick sized hole in the corner.  I put chick food and water in there so the hen's can't bother it and the chicks can go in there for protection (if needed).  

She'll get off the eggs from time to time to get food, water, dust bath and to stretch her legs.  Just keep an eye on things to make sure she goes back to the right nest box.  My hens are sometimes very dumb about that...

Mike Haasl wrote:She'll get off the eggs from time to time to get food, water, dust bath and to stretch her legs.  Just keep an eye on things to make sure she goes back to the right nest box.  My hens are sometimes very dumb about that...

I have found that one reason they shift nest box is when they get up to stretch their legs, some other hen promptly moves in. Because of this risk, I always put my broodies in "protective custody" which could be as simple as a really large dog crate with food and water hanging on the door. Preferably, I use dog exercise pen fencing which is about 4 ft square and put a roof on it. Baby chicks could get through that fencing when they hatch, so I have "baby bumpers" solid material for the lowest foot to 18".

I absolutely prefer mom raised chicks and ducks, so this is very much worth doing, but if other hens can disturb your broody, the odds of bad things happening increases considerably. When our moms first come off the nest, I give them a space where they can see the rest of the flock, but they're safe from interference while mom and they bond with each other. Tiny chicks also need much more protection from just about everything! Rats, snakes, birds of prey, etc will all consider a chick a tasty treat. In the wild, a brood of 10 chicks can easily only end up with 1 or 2 survivors. I want better results than that, so I make sure they've got housing that will meet their needs, while giving mom opportunities to teach them about predators, safe foods to eat, and the very important social skills for getting along in a flock.

Where did she go broody? If she's in a community nesting box, give her the eggs you want her to have, and then block the nest from the other chickens. What you really don't want is for her to leave the nest to eat, and have five other chickens come in and lay additional eggs in her nest. That throws off the hatch times, gives her too many eggs, and could cause her to squish the ones you want hatched. If she's in a bush or something outside, make sure she's secure at night, and can't be eaten by some passing predator. If she's in a nest of her own making, not at risk of a predator, and not likely to have anyone else lay in her nest, she can come and go as she pleases with the other chickens. After making sure both she and her eggs are safe, make sure she has room to come out of the nest, move around, eat and drink, etc. Chickens thrive off of movement, and you need to make sure she has the room to do it no matter what nesting arrangement you have. Keep in mind that you don't need to freak out if she leaves the nest for a while. She does need to eat, and eggs are built to handle hens leaving for 15 to 20 minutes at a time to eat and drink. Freaking out and trying to shove her back in the nest is going to freak her out, risk her breaking the eggs fighting to get away, or make her break her brood. For the most part, leave her alone and let her do her job. She'll protect the chicks from the other chickens, so you shouldn't have to worry about that, and she'll take care of keeping them warm. If she breaks her brood early, that's fine, it happens. If she abandons the chicks two weeks in, that's also fine, although I wouldn't use her as a brooder again if she did that. Mama hens are really incredible about knowing how to care for their eggs and chicks, so besides making sure she's safe, has access to food and water, and can move around, leave her alone. I will generally go out and candle all the eggs halfway through just to make sure she's not sitting on any rotten eggs, but that's optional. Congratulations on your decision! Hen raised chicks are healthier, stronger, better foragers, and faster growers than any hatchery bought chick! This is one of my more recent hens, who decided to brood under a pallet in the barn. I didn't find her until days before she hatched, (at which point a moved her to a more accessible spot for me, and split her twelve eggs between her and another hen so she wouldn't have too many chicks) but all her eggs were alive, and she'd done it all on her own.

Elena Sparks wrote:

This is one of my more recent hens, who decided to brood under a pallet in the barn. I didn't find her until days before she hatched,

This is one of the reasons I *really* feel it's important to respect broodiness in birds. I raise Muscovy ducks as well as chickens. If I try to break brood, I increase the odds of the next time around, they'll find some place in the bushes to make their nest. I try *really* hard to provide them with nest boxes that meet *their* needs, while still being functional for me to clean and maintain. Since Muscovy hatch takes 5 weeks (chickens only 3), survival in the wild in my region is pretty much impossible. Once I'd observed a few broody birds, I learned to watch for "getting there" signs. This way I would make arrangements and to some extent, timing that worked for me.  Sometimes, they surprise you, and in some environments, I've certainly heard of Mom's walking out of the bush with 8 chicks in a parade.

And wrote:

I will generally go out and candle all the eggs halfway through just to make sure she's not sitting on any rotten eggs, but that's optional.

My friend does this with her banties but they're much more used to being human handled than most of my birds. I try to avoid it with my Muscovy ducks as they tend to react with "mommy defensive poop" which I *don't* want in the nest! We don't have many chickens that go broody, and if the mom looks like she's well, I try to just be patient and see how things go.

Hi Ross,
Two springs ago, I had about half my flock go broody. After seeing that they were serious, I moved all of them out except the 5 I wanted to actually hatch chicks. They each started with 10 eggs, and in the end I had like 10 or 12 chicks that hatched. Most were infertile eggs or were broken. Two had something happen part way through and the chick died before reaching full maturity. Despite these heavy losses, it was so rewarding to come out one day and see a chick's head peeping out from underneath.

If you can't separate the hens (which does make it easier), there is an easy way to make sure you don't have eggs from other hens resulting in half-rotted eggs at the end. Collect the eggs and start them all at the same time like has been suggested. Before you put them under the hen, mark them with a pencil. A little x or something, so you can easily see. Then check the eggs every day and remove any that are not marked. The marks are easier to see in the day time, but the hen is more likely to be awake and decide to peck you for interfering with her. At night, specifically with a red light (many head lamps have this feature) you will not disturb the bird as much. This was when I did my candling and checking of the eggs.

I only have limited experience with bringing the chicks in with the rest of the flock. I had a greenhouse wall between them and they could not see the other flock members. I believe I also waited too long, because by the time I integrated the chicks, the mother was not defending them any more, and just wanted to get back with the flock. The chicks survived, but got picked on a lot at first. I think keeping them close, and putting them in with the flock right after birth when the mother's hormones and instincts are at the highest would be good.

***Edit I forgot to add pics