baby chicks

[crdavis09]

Not sure if this is where I should post this or noT and this may be a stupid question but I am gonna ask. My nesting boxes are about 2 to 3 foot off the ground and I have a hen that has 9 eggs in there not sure if she is gonna set or not but if she does is it ok for the box to be that high for when the babies are born? Well they make it out ok?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! I move my broody hens, in the dead of night, to a large dog crate in the coop, with bedding, food, and water. That way the other hens aren't able to disturb her and mess up her eggs. It also protects the new chicks their first few days. Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

That’s not a stupid question, that’s a fairly common question. The stupid question is the one you don’t ask. Those not-asked questions can cause harm.

Some people get really concerned if the nest is off the ground at all. I don’t. I’ve seen a hen get chicks out of a ten feet high hay loft. Mama says jump and they do, then run to her when they hit the ground. One of the nests mine regularly hatch in is three feet off the coop floor. I’ve never had a hen have any problems getting the chicks safely to the ground.

I don’t know what your nest looks like. I did have a problem once when a hen hatched in a cat litter bucket. Not the cat litter bin but the bucket the litter comes in. The open top is pretty small, maybe 8-1/2” x 11”. When the baby chicks hatch the first ones out often like to crawl on top of Mama while she is hatching the rest. In a nest that small she was sitting right at the edge of the nest. When the chicks fell off they sometimes missed the nest and hit the floor. Three different times with that hatch I had to toss a chick back into the nest with Mama. I retired that nest after the hatch. As long as the nest is not so small the hen is crowding the edge you should be OK.

I leave the hen alone when she is hatching. I find the more I interfere the more likely I am to cause damage. Hens have been doing this for thousands of years with no interference or “help” from humans. They know more about it than I do.

I let the hen decide when to bring the chicks off the nest. The chicks talk to Mama while still in the shell after internal pip. That way Mama knows when the hatch is over. Sometimes that’s within 24 hours of the first one hatching. Sometimes they drag on for well over two full days. I have food and water on the coop floor so Mama can teach them how to eat and drink when she does bring them off. Each incubation is different so the same thing does not always happen, but it is pretty standard for Mama to keep them in the coop for a day or two before venturing outside with them. At night she normally takes them to a corner of the coop to sleep, not into a nest.

Good luck on getting a broody.

 

[crdavis09]

well I am not gonna worry about them then. With her nine eggs I hope she starts to set pretty soon. I am now fighting the urge to take them and incubate em. But I am trying to let her do her job.