Babies just broke through eggs under Mama ...what now?

[ErnieBerley]

Hi i'm new to chickens (well had them for a year) - should i say new to babies! I have a Mille Fleur d'Uccle hen that went broody June 12, so I kept some eggs under her to see what happens. Well I just heard babies peeping. What a joyous feeling! I dont have kids but I can imagine how that must feel seeing your child for the first time! anyway back to chickens.... so what now? do you leave the babies under her for a while (there are more eggs to hatch but not sure how many days - she would get off nest occasionally and others would coime lay more) I tried to mark them and pull out new ones but missed some.

Do the babies need food? water? how does this work? thanks for any help and support !

 

[Mimi13]

First off, congrats on your new babies! If you were unable to keep her and the eggs separated, you will have eggs that will have different hatching dates and you will need to intercept those eggs once she leaves the nest.

Generally speaking, unless all the eggs will hatch within 2-3 days, your broody will leave the nest to begin tending to the hatched chicks. (There are exceptions either way I suppose, but my last broody left the nest after the third egg had only been hatched about 8 hours, leaving one egg that still had not even pipped.)

You will need to either let the remaining chicks die in shell.

As far as the newly hatched chicks under her, you will need to do nothing. The broody takes care of everything. However, I always place feed and water where the babies can easily access it. Some broodies may not be as attentive as others.

For next time, make sure that the broody is protected from others being able to lay in her nest and you should have no problem. Unless your broody pulls a fast one and leaves the nest early like mine did. I was extremely lucky that I was able to help my fourth chick hatch two days later than the rest and then having the broody and last baby chick.

Here is the link to my post on the last baby.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/blood-veins-and-absorbed-yolk.1380555/

Best of luck.

 

[AgnesGray]

Awww.... broody mama hens are so sweet!

Are you able to give her a quiet area blocked off from the others for a bit? If you can, give her and the babies their own supply of baby-safe chick feed and chick safe water. Broody will show the babies the ropes (hopefully).

If you have some straggler eggs, you can candle them and see how far along they are. Any that are left can go in an incubator if you have one (or check a local chicken group to see if someone is interested in finishing the incubation for you so they don't end up dying in the shell).

Post pics!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not sure what your coop and nest looks like. That could have an effect on what you should do next. I have a big walk-in ground-level coop with plenty of room so the other chickens stay outside practically all day unless they are laying. My nests are 2' to 4' above the coop floor so once the hen brings them off the nest they do not go back. My nests are pretty big so I have no issues with the chicks falling out early. What you are working with can make a difference.

The way I manage mine is to leave the hen alone, let her do her job. At some point she will bring the hatched babies off the nest. I have food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it when Mama brings them off. That is basically all I do. If I had a tiny coop or an elevated coop I'd probably do things differently.

It sounds like you have what we call a staggered hatch. That is where eggs get added later so they don't all hatch at about the same time. At some point the hen has to decide to bring the hatched chicks off to find food and water for them or stay on the nest to try to hatch the later chicks. The vast majority choose the hatched chicks. Since they absorb the yolk before they hatch the chicks can live off of that for over three days. I had one where the first one hatched on a Monday evening and she did not bring them all off the nest until Friday morning, about three and a half days after the first one hatched. I've had hens bring their chicks off the nest less than 24 hours after the first one hatched. Each hatch is different.

The way I avoid a staggered hatches is to collect all the eggs I want the hen to hatch and mark them before I give them all to her at the same time. Then every day after the others have laid for the day I check under her and remove any that don't belong. As long as you remove them daily they are good to use but don't skip a day collecting them.

A work of warning. Baby chicks sometimes crawl up under the then's feathers. Under the wings is a favorite spot. I killed a chick once by picking up the broody hen around her body and the wings. I crushed a chick under her wing. I still pick a broody up if I need to but I am a lot more careful.

If you can describe what you have to work with and maybe a photo or two I might be able to offer more specific suggestions for your situation. Congratulations one the hatch and good luck the rest of the way.

 

[ErnieBerley]

ok so far I have 3 babies... here they are !!! The father is a Splash Silkie, the mom is a White crested blue polish ...and here's the broody mama Piper, the d'Uccle. She had one egg that was hers but something happened baby died. She also has about 5 more eggs under her from Easter Egger and my splash silkie but i'm not sure he can fertilize those big hens.