Baby chick hatched under hen.. now what?

[turkey girl 0964]

This morning a baby chick hatched under my broody bantam! YAY! The nest box is about 3 ft of the ground so we are wondering what to do with them? I don't want the baby to fall out of the nest. Should I take them down to the ground with the rest of the hens or will they kill it? I do have some medium dog cages that we could put them in. Also have some temperary fence panels that we could make into a little cage for them. Will any of those work for them? TIA!

 

[turkey girl 0964]

@Ridgerunner @Overo Mare

 

[BlueBaby]

Is the poult dry and actively moving around yet? How many more egg's are under her that have still yet to hatch?

 

[neo71665]

Need to move baby and momma out, the other chickens will kill and eat it

 

[turkey girl 0964]

Is the poult dry and actively moving around yet? How many more egg's are under her that have still yet to hatch?

It is my bantams egg and there was only one. It is dry and active.

 

[L0rraine]

Is it just one chick? I always find it a dilemma as well. I can remember living on a farm where hens and chicks always managed to coexist with everyone else, but my gut feeling is that would end in disaster for me.

I have a smallish ‘hospital’ pen (with hardwire all around it). I try to move moms and chicks in there for a week or so. I have to wait until all chicks are hatched though or they get confused about sitting on the eggs.
It’s been several years, and strangely, I’m having a hard remembering how the flock introductions went. Hopefully that means it was uneventful.

 

[L0rraine]

Is it just one chick? I always find it a dilemma as well. I can remember living on a farm where hens and chicks always managed to coexist with everyone else, but my gut feeling is that would end in disaster for me.

I have a smallish ‘hospital’ pen (with hardwire all around it). I try to move moms and chicks in there for a week or so. I have to wait until all chicks are hatched though or they get confused about sitting on the eggs.
It’s been several years, and strangely, I’m having a hard remembering how the flock introductions went. Hopefully that means it was uneventful.

(Just saw that it was one chick)

 

[turkey girl 0964]

It is just one chick. I could put them both in the dog cage.

 

[BlueBaby]

It is just one chick. I could put them both in the dog cage.

Attach some hardcloth wire to the cage to make sure that the chick can't get out of it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The nest box is about 3 ft of the ground so we are wondering what to do with them?

What I do in my nests between 2' and 4' above the coop floor is let the broody hen decide when to come off of the nest. Mama flies down to the coop floor and calls her chicks. They jump down to her with no problems. To me, the height above the coop floor isn't an issue.

I let my broody hens raise their chicks with the flock from hatch. Another adult has never killed or injured one. Other people on here I trust say they have had issues so it can happen, it's just never happened to me.

Some people like to isolate them instead of let them roam with the flock. You can do that. Just having one chick and no other eggs to worry about makes that easier, you don't have to worry about leaving an egg behind that might hatch. If you do that you can move them as soon as the chick has dried off. Or wait until she brings it off the nest.

Bluebaby took one of my warnings. You don't want the chick to get where Mama cannot protect it. So wherever you isolate them make sure the chick cannot get out. It is in danger if it gets away from Mama's protection.

Baby chicks often like to climb up under Mama's feathers, including under the wings. I crushed and killed a chick one time when I picked up a broody hen, it was under her wing. If you pick a broody up be careful you don't crush a chick. Trust me that is not a good feeling.