new mom..

[norcalsteel]

so I had a chicken go broody and it kept trying to steal a nest of eggs from my Cayuga ducks. I have no rooster due to complaining neighbors. My solution was buying a dozen fresh eggs from a local guy I know and she took right to them. Looks like she hatched 7 out of the dozen with 1 dead , not sure if she stepped on it since it was fully hatched. 1 more is peeping in the egg. My question is do I have to provide anything special in the coop for the babies? food and water? or will momma take care of her babies. Also my feed is in a suspended bucket. so should I have dish with water and seed on the ground inside the chicken house?

 

[Pyxis]

and congrats on your hatch! The babies will need to be on starter food since the extra calcium in layer feed can hurt them at this age when they do not need all the calcium. Mom is not laying right now so she can be on the starter also with no problems. You will need to be sure the chicks can easily reach food and water, so if the bucket is too high for them you might want to lower it or buy a little chick feeder for them to put their starter food in. Same with the waterer. Other than that your hen will care for them!

 

[norcalsteel]

thanks, I added a water container to the house. I was hoping that mom would provide most of the feeding. After doing 30 ducks in the incubator I was hoping a mother brooding would be a lot easier.