Babies on the way...help!

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dixiechic

dixiechic

Hatching
7 Years
May 17, 2012
3
0
7
Hello. I absolutly love my chickens. I have 9 hens and 2 roosters. In the chicken house I have 5 coops and the hens always pick the same 2 to lay their eggs. For the first time I have a hen sitting on her eggs (4 days now) and I don't know what to do. What do I do after they hatch? Do I move her and the chicks to their own place to be safe from a snake or the other hens? Does she ever get up to eat or drink? Any advice would help...thanks!
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dixiechic said:
Hello. I absolutly love my chickens. I have 9 hens and 2 roosters. In the chicken house I have 5 coops and the hens always pick the same 2 to lay their eggs. For the first time I have a hen sitting on her eggs (4 days now) and I don't know what to do. What do I do after they hatch? Do I move her and the chicks to their own place to be safe from a snake or the other hens? Does she ever get up to eat or drink? Any advice would help...thanks!
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In the chicken coop (house) you have 5 nest boxes, and they lay in 2. Thats totally normal, most of the time it's just one box, they think has to be their favorite box, just because someone else is using it. I made it easy on myself and just put in one nest box. I've got 11 hens.

If you have a broody hen, you'll want to take a sharpie marker or pencil and mark the egg so it's easy to identify. Remove all new unmarked eggs that the other hens will lay in the box.

You can move the hen if you want, it will depend on the hen and how broody she is whether she'll stay broody. I usually use a small dog crate.

I don't believe the hens will get up off the eggs hardly if at all to eat or drink. Thats normal too so don't worry. Some people will put water and food near by so she doesn't have to go far to eat/drink if she needs too. Last year I pulled chicks from the hen and kept them in a brooder box (near the hen and gave them back to her when she got off the nest) this is also something you could use to house a broody hen, and protect the chicks as well.
 
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Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan :D

Sometimes other hens will jostle the eggs or disrupt the hen. If she is setting really tight, you should be able to move her into a small pen or cage to do her brooding. That way when the chicks hatch they will be safe from the other chickens.

Get her up once daily to walk around, eat and drink, and poop so that she does not soil the nest.

Good luck!
 
Hello and :welcome

Move the broody off the nest once a day and make sure she gets something to eat and drink! She'll appreciate a scratch around and some fresh air but probably won't get off the nest herself. :p

You can move them to their own place, I guess, it's really up to you. I don't have any experience with broody hens though.

Enjoy the site. :D
 
Tes. thank you for advice. I just noticed this morning that another hen was sitting in the coop with her and acted mad with me whe I moved her....lol. I will move her...thanks again
 

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