Chickens hatching naturally today, but problems with getting killed

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Thanks for all the great advice! I will definitely handle things in a more controlled way next time. I wanted to let it all happen naturally, but I think having the much larger Black Australorp Roosters and hens mixed in with the much smaller Golden Campine hens was a big part of the problem. All three of the broody hens were Golden Campines and they just don't stand a chance against the Australorps. Since I said next time, I guess you can figure that the situation didn't end so well. When I got home today, I was planning to move them inside until a more permanent solution can be built, this weekend. Some of the Australorp hens had flown into the hen house over the top wall (about 9 feet high), something I didn't even know they could do. But needless to say the rest of the chicks are dead. I am going to go ahead and build the add-on brooder area to my pen this weekend, but I guess it'll be at least another 30 days before I can make use of it. Next time, I will have everything in place to go ahead and move them immediately, so that this blood bath won't reoccur.

I like that brooder design CTKen and I have a bunch of 1 inch PVC from my half finished aquaponics setup that would work great for throwing together something like that.

Quick question for future reference, is it possible to move a broody hen before she starts hatching? Particularly if I move her at night? The same 3 Golden Campines keep on going broody, this was just the first time I've had a mature rooster to make it useful, so I'm wondering if I could go ahead and move her into the brooder a bit early when one of them goes broody again?
 
I'll also add that due to the violence I'm considering building a chicken tractor for my Golden Campines and getting them their own properly sized rooster. I suspect that they could then hatch naturally, which is what I'd really like to see in the future, but for now, I'll just start planning for the next attempt.
 
thedoktorj said:
Thanks for all the great advice! I will definitely handle things in a more controlled way next time. I wanted to let it all happen naturally, but I think having the much larger Black Australorp Roosters and hens mixed in with the much smaller Golden Campine hens was a big part of the problem. All three of the broody hens were Golden Campines and they just don't stand a chance against the Australorps. Since I said next time, I guess you can figure that the situation didn't end so well. When I got home today, I was planning to move them inside until a more permanent solution can be built, this weekend. Some of the Australorp hens had flown into the hen house over the top wall (about 9 feet high), something I didn't even know they could do. But needless to say the rest of the chicks are dead. I am going to go ahead and build the add-on brooder area to my pen this weekend, but I guess it'll be at least another 30 days before I can make use of it. Next time, I will have everything in place to go ahead and move them immediately, so that this blood bath won't reoccur.

I like that brooder design CTKen and I have a bunch of 1 inch PVC from my half finished aquaponics setup that would work great for throwing together something like that.

Quick question for future reference, is it possible to move a broody hen before she starts hatching? Particularly if I move her at night? The same 3 Golden Campines keep on going broody, this was just the first time I've had a mature rooster to make it useful, so I'm wondering if I could go ahead and move her into the brooder a bit early when one of them goes broody again?
Click to expand...
Often hens can be moved after they go broody at night-sometimes they reject the move. Another solution that I have been using with a couple of hens: When I notice that a broody hen's comb is bright red again and she is about to lay I move her to a large pen. There she lays her eggs and goes broody, sets, and hatches the chicks. A rooster need not be with her; fertile eggs from another hen can be used.
 
Thanks I will try that. Hopefully, one of the 3 will let me move her and stay broody, once they get another clutch. I've already cleaned out their nest boxes in order to let them try again.
 
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