The 10 reasons why you need to raise your chicks like a mama hen (and how to do it!)

Jan 17

The science is absolutely clear on this—as you’ll learn below. Chicks just do better when they're raised by a mama hen.

And that means the more you can make your brooder setup mimic what chicks would experience with a mama hen, the healthier your chicks will be, the happier they’ll be, and the better your relationship with them will be.

This post contains Chewy affiliate links and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Reason #1: Chicks raised by a mama hen are less fearful.

Numerous studies and literature reviews have overwhelmingly demonstrated that chicks raised naturally by mama hens do better than those raised artificially without mama hens.1-10

Chicks raised by mama hens are not only less fearful during the time they’re being raised,11 but also later on as young adults.6

However, this reduction in fearfulness only holds if the mother herself is not fearful. So, if a mother behaves fearfully towards humans, for example, her chicks will learn to be afraid of humans too,12 particularly if the chicks are already genetically predisposed to fearfulness.13

What can you do in your brooder to reduce your chicks’ fearfulness?

There are a few things you can do.

Give your chicks plenty of space to explore in their brooder—I like to use a camping tent brooder.
Imprint your chicks on you—you can learn more about this in Mama hen’s guide to raising spoiled-rotten chicks. (I’ll also be publishing a series of imprinting articles at some point).
Fill your brooder space with chick-appropriate toys—the science shows that enriched environments (i.e., lots of brooder toys) play a major role in reducing chick fear. You can read all about it here.
Brood your chicks with a brooder heat plate (rather than a heat lamp).

That last point is important because chicks that have a dark brooder to go under—like a brooder heat plate—are less fearful than those raised without one.14

Reason #2: Chicks raised by a mama hen are more active and exploratory.

Chicks raised by mama hens tend to be more exploratory,4, 15-16 exhibit better spatial learning,15 and earlier perching.17

What can you do in your brooder to increase your chicks’ activity and exploratory behavior?

As above, give your chicks a large brooder, imprint them on you, and give them lots of chick-appropriate toys to explore.

You’ll also want to give them plenty of loose, clean bedding to forage in, starting at about 1 week old. There are 5 types of bedding I recommend for chicks—you can learn more in my article, 5 chick brooder beddings tested: My chicks chose their favorite.

If you really want to give your chicks a thrill, every time you change the bedding (i.e., remove the old, soiled bedding and replace it with fresh bedding), give your chicks a different type of fresh bedding. So, for example, start them on aspen shavings and then replace those later with hemp!

Learn more about this approach here.

Reason #3: Chicks raised by a mama hen eat more food.

Mama hens teach chicks what they should be eating through social demonstration,16, 18-19 but also by redirecting them from unpalatable feed to palatable feed.20

Additionally, when researchers played hen vocalizations on a speaker to chicks raised without a mama hen, the chicks ate more food than those who did not hear the vocalizations.21

What can you do in your brooder to increase your chicks’ eating?

Here’s what you can do.

Make sure you train your chicks to eat and drink when they first arrive. (See Mama hen’s guide to raising spoiled-rotten chicks for demonstrations.)
Imprint your chicks on you, because your mere presence will increase their activity and their eating behavior.
Several times a day, sprinkle food on a hard heat mat.

Why the hard heat mat? Chicks LOVE to eat off a hard heat mat.

First of all, they stay nice and warm while they eat.

Second, chicks are attracted to tapping noises (and eat more in the presence of a tapping sound).18, 22-25 This means that when one chick pecks at the hard surface of the heat mat, all the others come running over to join in. 

Third, chicks are social eaters and drinkers, so when one chick is busy eating or drinking, others like to join in.23, 26-29

Reason #4: Chicks raised by a mama hen dustbathe more frequently.

One study showed that chicks raised by a mama hen dustbathed more frequently than those raised without one.2

Dustbathing is a necessary activity for both physical and psychological purposes.30-31  Dustbaths are necessary to keep chickens’ feathers in good condition.32-33 

I’ve also found in my flocks that dustbathing can be infectious. Chickens love to bathe together!

You can see what dustbathing looks like in the video below.

What can you do in your brooder to increase your chicks’ dustbathing?

Make sure you have a suitable dustbathing substrate present in the brooder. I’ve used medium- to coarse-grained sand, but next time I raise chicks, I’m going to test out granite chick grit.

Imprint your chicks on you and direct them to their dustbathing substrate daily.

Reason #5: Chicks raised by a mama hen perch earlier.

One study showed that chicks raised by a mama hen perched earlier than those raised without one.17

What can you do in your brooder to help your chicks to perch earlier?

This one is easy, but unfortunately, it’s little known in the backyard chicken-keeping space.

Scientific studies show that chicks need to be exposed to multi-level perches or platforms and also to have ‘occlusion experiences’ at an early age.34-37

Specifically, around day 10 of life, chicks go through what scientists call a “sensitive period” for spatial learning. They need multi-level exploration and occlusion experiences around this day. Otherwise, they won’t ever be able to navigate 3-D space as well.

99% of backyard chicken keepers are missing these crucial steps around day 10. But if you provide your chicks with multi-level perches or platforms as well as occlusion experiences, your chicks will be better at spatial navigation than if they hadn’t had these experiences.

Not sure what kind of perches or platforms to provide? Have no idea what the heck an “occclusion experience” is? You can learn more about both of these things in my article, Chick toys! What your chicks need, when, and why, or see these in action in my course, Mama hen’s guide to raising spoiled-rotten chicks.

Reason #6: Chicks raised by a mama hen get better sleep... or at least they do when compared to chicks under heat lamps.

Chicks raised by a mama hen have synchronized sleep and activity schedules, particularly in the first days of life.38 Compared to chicks raised under a heat lamp, chicks raised with a broody mama had longer periods of rest and fewer sleep disturbances.

And one study showed that chicks exposed to an alternating light-and-dark cycle of 40 minutes light and 40 minutes dark—a cycle meant to mimic the brooding patterns of a mother hen—rested more than those exposed to almost continuous light.39

What can you do in your brooder to help your chicks sleep better?

This is also an easy one. Give them a brooder heat plate rather than a heat lamp.

Not only are heat plates considerably safer, studies show that dark brooders (i.e., the commercial version of a heat plate) synchronize rest and activity cycles similar to a mother hen.38

Dark brooders also significantly decrease feather picking and mortality in factory farm chicks.14, 40-41 

You shouldn’t have feather picking or cannibalism problems if you raise your backyard chicks the way I teach in Mama hen’s guide to raising spoiled-rotten chicks, but these studies do suggest that when chicks don’t have a brooder plate to go under, they are vulnerable to sleep disturbances by peers.

Reason #7: Chicks raised by a mama hen have stronger social bonds with one another.

Studies show that chicks raised by a mama hen have stronger bonds with each other than do those raised without a mama hen.6, 42

What can you do in your brooder to help your chicks have stronger social bonds?

There are 2 things you can do.

As in ‘Reason #6’ above, you can give your chicks a brooder heat plate, rather than a heat lamp, to help strengthen their social synchronicity.
You can imprint your chicks on you and spend a lot of time with them.

Full disclosure on that last recommendation—there are no academic studies to back me up that imprinting your chicks on you will increase the bonds between your chicks. It does, however, synchronize their activity.

When your chicks are imprinted on you, they treat you like a mama hen, which means they’ll all play together on top of you. You can see this in action in my course, Mama Hen’s Guide to Raising Chicks.

Reason #8: Chicks raised by a mama hen are less aggressive to each other.

Studies show that chicks raised by a mama hen are less aggressive to each other than those raised without a mama hen.17, 43-44

What can you do in your brooder to reduce aggression between your chicks?

Raise your chicks with lots of space and with lots of enrichment (i.e., toys). A large brooder will allow chicks to get away from each other.

A brooder with a lot of toys can prevent boredom, and it also provides lots of places for chicks to hide. Chicks can fly onto perches and platforms, go behind objects, or even hide inside objects.

For example, in the photo above, you can see one of the chicks I raised in my last batch, Pippa—she loved to hide in a rodent hideout toy whenever she was scared.

And again, a brooder heat plate—rather than a heat lamp—gives your chicks somewhere to go to get away from being picked on.

Reason #9: Chicks raised by a mama hen make better mamas themselves (if they are inclined to go broody and you allow them to do so).

One study showed that the best mama hens were raised by mama hens themselves when they were newly hatched chicks.7

What can you do in your brooder to help your chicks be better mothers when they’re older?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record here, the best thing you can do is reduce their fear (see ‘Reason #1’). This includes giving them a large brooder, a brooder heat plate, lots of toys, and imprinting them on you.

Reason #10: Chicks raised by a mama hen are unconditionally LOVED!

You’ve probably heard of the “love” hormone, oxytocin. This hormone prompts maternal care in mammals, including humans.

Well, recent research has shown that:

“…neurons sensitive to mesotocin (the avian homologue of oxytocin) increase in number when native Thai chickens enter a broody state.”1

This isn’t surprising. If you know much about mama hens, you know that they’ll give their lives to protect their young chicks.

In the video below, you can watch a beautiful story about a devoted Silkie hen who willingly risks her own life to save her baby chicks. (Spoiler alert: It has a HAPPY ending!)

One of the saddest practices in backyard chicken-keeping today is the practice of leaving young chicks alone for a few days when you first get them. The advice goes that because young chicks are very stressed out, particularly if they’ve been shipped, you don’t want to interact with them at all because that will stress them out even more.

This is a myth. Yes, your chicks have been stressed by the time they get to you. That part's true. But young chicks are hardwired to imprint on a maternal figure—they are desperately seeking a caretaker.38 The last thing they want is to be left alone.

Unfortunately, young chicks are only capable of forming that imprinting attachment during their first 2 days of life—maybe 3, if you’re lucky.

So, when you don’t spend time interacting with your chicks in their first couple days of life, you lose the opportunity for the imprinting bond to form.

And having chicks who are imprinted on you is a magical experience. There’s no other way to describe it. And that imprinting bond is a bond that never breaks. Your chicks will love you for life.

If you want to learn more about the science of imprinting, how to do it, and see some adorable videos of me imprinting my chicks, check out Mama hen’s guide to raising spoiled-rotten chicks.

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