Am I doing this right?

[Chickenmama2015]

I have two broody hens right now and they have been hatching chicks. Well neither hen wants anything to do with the chicks. It used to be that after 24 hours or after the chick was completely dry they would kick them out of the nest. This morning though I found one that it's back still looked damp not completely wet but still looked as if it wasn't dried all the way. It was laying out of the nest and was very weak from hatching. I took the baby in and put a small barrier between my 3 that I have and this one so that it could be nearest to my lamp and not get picked on so that it could finish drying and get stronger before I integrate it in with the other chicks. The others can also get somewhat near the lamp if they need but it is 82 outside so they should be okay till I can put them all together. I'm worried though that I'm doing this wrong. I am keeping a eye on this one chick to be sure it doesn't get to warm. I'm really trying my best to not let anymore get harmed by these hens as I had 20 eggs under them and only 4 are currently living out of the 8 that have hatched so far. I'm not sure how many more out of the 12 eggs they are sitting on still contain chicks either.

 

[BlueBaby]

It seem's that you are doing the best that you can for it. Since those 2 broodies are like that with hatching chicks, maybe in the future when it's close to hatching time you could remove the eggs and put them into an incubator to hatch?

 

[sumi]

You're doing the best you can… I wouldn't let those hens hatch any more chicks in future though! They sound like bad moms. If you candle the remaining eggs in the nest you can see which are occupied and which were not developing. Hopefully there will not be any or many more casualties in the nests! Best of luck with your little ones.

 

[Chickenmama2015]

You're doing the best you can… I wouldn't let those hens hatch any more chicks in future though! They sound like bad moms. If you candle the remaining eggs in the nest you can see which are occupied and which were not developing. Hopefully there will not be any or many more casualties in the nests! Best of luck with your little ones.

I don't plan on hatching anymore in the future. Wasn't even really expecting these I just couldn't make myself take the eggs from them knowing that the chicks had already started to develop. As for my one hen she has hatched chicks before and was a excellent mother this time around though she doesn't seem interested in the chicks after they hatch.