I have incubated hatching eggs using both an incubator and a broody hen. Starting off using an incubator to hatch eggs made me realized just how much easier it is to let a mother hen hatch eggs! Honestly, I thought caring for a broody hen while she is incubating eggs was going to be a lot harder than it really is. A mother hen instinctually knows what to do when it comes to hatching eggs, all you have to do is make sure she has the resources to take care of herself and her babies. While some breeders like to have a fancy, technical set-up for a broody hen, here on the homestead it’s best to keep things simple! Here is a brief outline of how I care for my broody hens when I let them set on eggs to hatch!
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#1. Set up a Broody Pen
So, you have a broody hen and you want to let her set on some hatching eggs. What now? There are two scenarios, you can let her set where she chose and keep her with the flock or you can move her to a broody pen where she will have privacy and you can keep a better eye on her and her brood. While there are benefits to both, for first time broody care takers, I highly recommend setting up a broody pen.
Letting a broody hen hatch her brood in the coop can be a little more risky as other hens may fight for her nest, mess with the eggs, or steal the chicks. Some hens are group setters, and will take turns setting on the nest, while others want to do it all themselves, which can cause problems. Also, if the hen chose to nest in a raised location (like raised nesting boxes), then the height could be a problem when the chicks hatch and can’t fly down to the floor of the coop. To prevent any issues arising mid-incubation, it’s best to just give mother hen her privacy.
I prefer to set up a nice brooding box for my broody hens. Privacy, ease of care, and chick safety are all benefits of making a broody box for the mother hen.
In essence, the broody box will end up being more like a broody pen. The hen should have an area where she can build her nest, but she should also have space to leave the nest, stretch her legs, relieve herself, and get something to eat and drink. Access to the outdoors and a dust bathing spot are always beneficial for a mother hen as well!
Tips for Setting Up A Broody Box
- The box must be large enough to accommodate the hen and her chicks once they hatch.
- The broody box must have an area where the hen can build her nest as well as plenty of space for the hen to leave her nest and relieve herself away from the eggs.
- A secure food and water system must be rigged up in the broody box. Mother hen can be very assertive with eating and drinking, so make sure the food and water can’t be tipped over.
- The litter in the broody box should be thick and of an absorbent material. Large flake wood shavings work the best. Cover the floor of the broody box with a 5-6 inch thick layer of litter.
- The nesting area, food and water area, and relieving area should all be on the same level so that when the chicks hatch, there are no height differences they have to deal with.
- Locate the broody box in a safe, well lit location. The lighting can be natural lighting or soft artificial lighting. Just make sure you keep the broody hen on a natural night and day sleep/light pattern.
- If possible, make the nesting side of the broody pen darker and more private. Mother hens instinctually look for darker locations to make their nests.
- The broody box should be completely enclosed with predator proof material and should be covered. It should be protected from weather elements and other environmental factors.
- The broody box should also be easy to clean. You will have to regularly clean the broody pen both throughout incubation and once the chicks hatch.
- Lastly, the broody box should be located in a temperate location. I recommend an area that stays consistently above 55°F.
#2. Move the Broody Hen
Okay, you have the brooding pen all set up. Deep litter is covering the pen floor, the food and water sources are secure and full, now it’s time to introduce mother hen to her brooding home! The transition step will really test to see if the broody hen is truly broody or not. In my post, How to Tell if a Hen Will Hatch Eggs, I listed moving the hen to a brooding box as the final test to see if she is truly committed to setting on hatching eggs, no matter the circumstances.
If a broody hen is truly broody, she won’t mind being moved to a different location than what she chose. It will take her a few minutes to get used to the new location, but she should settle in quickly. Having the broody pen be spacious, well lit with a dark nesting area, and as natural as possible will make it more appealing for the hen.
Before you move the broody hen, place some dummy eggs in the nesting spot of the broody pen. The eggs will be attractive to the hen and remind her that she really does want to be broody, even if this location is different than the one she chose. These eggs should not be the actual hatching eggs since you want to test the hen first before giving her the real deal! It is also helpful to move the broody hen to the broody pen in the evening hours, close to when the hen would naturally go to sleep.
A mother hen that has committed to the incubating process she will get acquainted with her new location, get something to eat and drink, and then nestle down on the dummy eggs.
How Many Eggs Should I Give Her?
Once the broody hen has settled into a pattern and is showing signs of still being broody, even after the move, you can giver her hatching eggs! A mother hen can usually cover about a dozen eggs of the size that she lays. However, hens often prefer an odd amount of eggs for their clutch since an odd amount of eggs set better together than an even amount. Keep egg size in mind when determining how many hatching eggs to give your broody hen.
If possible, replace the dummy eggs with the real eggs during one of the broody hen’s daily breaks. While she is off the nest, make the egg switch as quickly and subtly as possible. Monitor the mother hen after she returns to the nest to ensure she settled back in to brooding.
Even after testing the mother hen and getting the incubation process under way, it’s still a good idea to have a backup plan! Have an incubator ready just in case things don’t go as planned!
#3. Daily Care
Once mother hen as committed to the incubation process and is setting on the hatching eggs, there is not much else you need to do! She will take care of the eggs since she knows what’s best for them. All you have to do is provide the resources for her to take care of herself. A little daily clean up is required too!
Food & Water
Let’s start with food and water. You should refresh the broody hen’s water every day. Clean, fresh water is essential for keeping the hen hydrated despite her infrequent drinks. Adding some probiotics or electrolytes to the water periodically can be beneficial too. For food, you can feed a broody hen regular layer feed while she is setting on the eggs. Alternatively, you can switch her to chick starter food early on to provide extra protein throughout the incubation process when she will be naturally losing weight and consuming less food than normal.
You can also treat mother hen to some tasty supplements throughout her incubation period. Just make sure you don’t make the treats so appealing that she forgets about her nest! Periodically adding some scratch grains, whole oats, sunflower seeds, or dried bugs to the broody hen’s food can be beneficial.
A broody hen should have access to food and clean water all day.
Daily Cleaning
You should also remove any droppings from the broody pen on a daily basis. Mother hen will relieve herself of a ‘broody poop’ one or two times throughout the day. And you will know when she does it! The whole brooding area will get very stinky! Remove that stinky mass as soon as possible to save your nose and keep mother hen from having to breath in those stinky fumes. Any litter that you remove when you clean out the droppings should be replaced with fresh, clean litter.
If mother hen has access to the outdoors, she will more than likely relieve herself outside, which makes cleanup much easier.
Mother hen will take care of heat, humidity, and turning for the eggs. You make sure she has fresh water, plenty of food, and a clean environment throughout the incubation process (remember, it takes 3 weeks of incubation for eggs to develop and hatch).
#4. Pre-Hatch Prep
The three week incubation period is almost finished and normally you would be setting up a brooder for the baby chicks. However, since mother hen is taking care of the brooding, what do you do instead? There are just a few minor changes that need to be made to the brooding pen to get it ready for baby chicks!
First, if you haven’t done so already, switch out layer feed for chick starter feed. Both mama hen and her babies will be eating the chick starter feed. As the chicks grow, you will need to make a note of these dietary needs of growing chicks! Mother hen can eat anything that the chicks do, so don’t worry about her.
You may also need to lower the feed and water sources so that baby chicks can easily access them. Have the food and water at floor level so that mama hen can easily teach the chicks where to find food and water. The feeder and waterer should be securely fastened though! Mother hen can be very assertive and will quickly knock over any food or water sources that are not securely fastened down.
Make sure the broody pen is clean and in tip-top shape for when mother hen takes the new chicks on their first adventure! The environment should be safe and easy for young chicks to navigate.
#5. Hatch Day!
Hatch day is no less exciting whether you are using an incubator or a broody hen! I highly recommend keeping track of time from the first day you give the broody hen hatching eggs, that way you have an approximate day of when you can expect mother hen to show you her chicks.
Roughly three days before the expected hatch day you may notice that mother hen leaves the nest less frequently and may become even more protective of her space. This is nature’s equivalent to ‘lockdown’, or the period of time when incubation conditions need to be perfected in preparation for the hatching chicks. Don’t worry about mother hen, the eggs, or the expected chicks! Mother hen knows what’s best!
As you monitor mother hen throughout those last three days of incubation, you may hear her ‘talking’ to the un-hatched chicks. She may make low murmurs or clucks to encourage the chicks to pip and hatch. On hatch day, you may be able to hear chirping coming from under mother hen! Don’t disturb her! She will know when all the chicks have hatched and will show you her brood in her good timing.
Watching mother hen leave the nest and have all her newly hatched chicks follow her is so rewarding, even though you didn’t do most of the work!
#6. After Hatch Care
After the chicks have hatched is when the real work begins! Managing mother hen and her brood requires just as much time as if you were caring for the brood yourself. Except mother hen takes care of managing the chicks, dealing with pasty butt, and ensuring the chicks eat and drink. Your responsibilities are ensuring she has the resources to properly care for her brood.
Once mother hen leaves her nest with the newly hatched chicks for the first time, you can inspect any remaining eggs to see of they are going to hatch. Look for pips or candle them to check for development. Any eggs that might hatch can be left in the nest for another 24 hours. Remove any broken eggshells from the nesting location. Once you are sure that all the hatching is completed, you can remove any unhatched eggs when the mother hen leaves the nest again.
Don’t disturb the nest too much while you are removing the empty eggshells and checking out any un-hatched eggs. Mother hen will return to her nest with the chicks for the next couple of days. Depending on how big you made the broody pen will determine how long mama hen and her brood can stay in the broody pen. If the broody pen doesn’t have access to the outdoors, you will want to give both mama hen and the chicks a chance to be outside as frequently as possible.
Daily Care Tips
- Mother hen will continue to have broody poops, so you will need to remove those from the brooding area every day.
- Fill the feeder as needed. Refresh the water on a daily basis.
- The chicks’ poops will be hard to clean out of the brooding area. Instead, stir the wood shavings daily to prevent droppings from building up.
- Depending on the size of the brooding area, you may need to do an entire clean out of the brooding area as frequently as once a week to keep the litter clean and to prevent ammonia fumes from building up.
- Get mama hen and her brood outside as frequently as possible! It will help keep the brooding area cleaner for longer periods of time.
- Any area that mama hen and her brood are kept should be predator proof and covered. It should also have a sheltered area to get away from the weather.
Caring for a broody hen is really quite simple! Provide her with the right resources, and she will do the rest! Food, water, a clean nesting spot, and a place to stretch her legs are the basic needs of a broody hen. I love letting a mother hen hatch chicks for me, she always does a way better job of caring for the chicks and eggs. Not to mention, taking care of a broody hen is much simpler than tending to an incubator and setting up a brooder. Knowing how to properly care for your broody hen will help her hatch and raise a successful brood!
Having a broody hen on the homestead is a great way to raise your flock sustainably! For more homestead poultry tips, join our weekly newsletter and get our free ebook on Raising Chickens Like a Pioneer!
by Alexa
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