Any Concerns For Chicks Hatching In The Coop Soon?

[1234duck]

It's very cold and rainy now in California and I'm concerned about the chicks soon to hatch. (Not sure when but should be soon) Two hens are sitting on a lot of eggs in the coop. The coop is kind of small but there is 6 nesting boxes with hay in them and on the floor. Also there are 2 roosting poles. The coop is occupied by 3 hens and 2 roosters(plenty of room for them) ~My ? is.. will the babies be safe in the coop with their mom and can they walk up and down the ramp? ~Should I Keep food and water inside the coop for the babies? ~How do I keep babies from eating the feed with corn in it(laying crumbles mixed with corn)? Oh... and there's NO Heat in the coop. Thanks, ~Julie

 

[1234duck]

Here is a picture of the coop where soon the babies will be born. (currently occupied by 3 hens and 2 roos total) Is the height or ramp going to be an issue for the babies? Thanks, ~Julie

 

[brandislee]

They will be plenty warm as long as mama takes care of them. I live in Minnesota and just gave a broody two chicks to take care of. It just snowed and it's barely been above freezing, and they're fine. You just have to make extra sure they stay dry. I don't know about the ramp though- but I would say watch for problems closely and act accordingly. Especially if it's chilly the mom won't take them outside for the first few days anyway.

For my chicks I have a smaller feeder (they couldn't reach the big chicken one if they wanted to) that I keep chick feed in. The chick feed won't hurt the layers (because they will eat it) but the layer feed will hurt the chicks because of the calcium, which can cause long term health problems in chicks. So if you can, make the layer feed unavailable to the chicks (raise it up on blocks, hang it up, or whatever you can come up with) and have a smaller feeder with chick feed. OR you could just feed them all unmedicated chick feed (you don't want to feed medicated feed to layers) and make sure you have oyster shell available for the layers, which theoretically the chicks won't eat because they don't need it.