7 hatched lastnight! BUT i need help!

[silkielover92]

We had 7 silkie babys hatch lastnight today I get home from work and only three are out of the house with momma. Their Is a 4 inch drop from the house to the ground.. I pulled the other 4 out and momma wanted nothing to do with them..

but now she's finding food and being a mom... is 7 to many? Should I take the other 4 and leave her with three or should I just leave all seven?

 

[sourland]

Leave all 7 but make sure that she broods all of them tonight. Tomorrow all should be well. 7 is definately not too many for a hen to raise.

 

[2hot2chicken]

7 is not to many for her to raise but you will run into some problems with the nest box being 4 inches off the ground!
If your silkie hen is like mine she may want to go back into the nest at night and the chicks will have no way to reach her. I ended up having to put a rabbit cage into my coop to put her in with the chicks. I put food and water in it as well and just left her in there day and night for a few days. Then when I thought the chicks were strong enough and she was a protective enough mom I just left the rabbit cage door open. Now she takes the chicks back inside of the cage at night and sleeps in her nest in there instead of trying to go into the nest box.

Or option 2 if your coop is big enough you could just build a ramp going into the nest for the chicks to use. But keep in mind silkies, in my experience, seem to have a hard time with ramps.... So it cannot be to steep.

Good luck and Im right there with ya! I bought the chicks for my broody though, she didn't actually hatch them. They were all 2-6 days old when I got them, 4 splash color chicks. Its been fun having the babies though and she seems to be a very good mom.
I gave her 2 chicks the first day and due to an injury I had to nurse on the youngest chick I kep 2 inside for a week. Even after a week of having her 2 chicks she still accepted the other 2. And I put them under her during the day and just watched her for a bit..... No problems.

If she is actually pecking at or not accepting the other 4 chicks back you may need to keep them inside and warm with food and water until night and then put them back under her after you have the nesting situation fixed...... But be sure she is not just trying to peck at you! Put them near her other chicks if she will let you get close and then back off a ways to observe how she treats them then. She may be just trying to protect her chicks she already has from the threat she feels from you. My hen is very aggressive right now twards me.

She even accidentally pecked a chick on the back the other day because my hand was to close.....

Hope it works out for you!

 

[silkielover92]

Thanks guys!