can you disarm a rooster?

[LWolf]

6. I have a broody hen that has hatched several clutches.

In some years, I had 2 hens, and 2 clutches.

The rooster never bothered them. She was not separated from the flock; made her nest in the coop, sat, and brought them out as soon as they hatched. The rest of the flock ignored them, and mama watched carefully.

When the chicks were fully feathered out, at 3-4 weeks, mom ignored them, and the rest of the flock made sure they didn't eat first or get the best spots on the roost, but they were still part of the flock.

Size? The smallest was 3 chicks out of 4 eggs; I've never seen all the eggs hatch. The largest was 10 out of 16.

In all cases, the other hens would lay near the broody hen and she would roll their eggs into her nest. In the case of the smallest clutch, they offered more eggs to the senior hen. In the case of the larger, she had trouble spreading her feathers over that large a clutch, but wouldn't give them up. I thought 10 was pretty impressive.

I've always figured that one reason the whole clutch didn't hatch was because some of those eggs were late comers, and a few hours after hatch started, she quit setting.