Brooding hens and coop mates advice needed

[Chickycammy]

I'm not sure if this is the right spot but let me know if it's not!
We have a nice 6ft by 6ft coop for our 7 chickens. 2 of which have been brooding on nests and by the looks of it their 30 eggs could be hatching out sometime next week. We're pretty worried about whether or not we should move out the rooster and 5 coop mates? I'm so scared that they might get pecked or stomped on.

What should we do? Should we move the others to another coop or leave them there. We used to have them all free ranged but the woods around us have been cut down and we have hawks, foxes and bobcats that have been seen or have killed some of the chickens.

 

[sourland]

Normally I would leave hens and chicks in with the flock, but that coop is a bit small. I would separate the hens and chicks from the flock.

 

[Chickycammy]

Normally I would leave hens and chicks in with the flock, but that coop is a bit small. I would separate the hens and chicks from the flock.

Thank you for the advice! We're in the middle of building a larger coop and run but rain has been holding us back. I think I'll order a premade coop and run and move the hens and chicks in there.

 

[Zan]

I agree, separate mama and babies. If you can move her before the eggs hatch, that would be best, in my opinion.

I always move my broodies when the start to set. I put them in a quiet area with their eggs so all the eggs hatch on the same day. Once the babies are hatched and dry, I move the family to a small pen inside my run. I keep them separated from the main flock till the babies are 4 ish weeks old, then they go in with everyone else. At that age, Mama will still protect them and teach them the ropes of the coop and flock, but the babies are big enough to get out of the way and not get hurt if they don't move fast enough.

 

[aart]

I'd not try to move broodies before eggs hatch, they may quit.
If flock has gotten along for 2 weeks then I'd just leave them all be.
Broodies will defend the chicks.
Broodies are the ones who get in fights after hatch.
Are nest on the ground so chicks can get back into them for shelter?

 

[Chickycammy]

Update:

Sadly before we could move the hens and eggs 3 of them had hatched. It was horrifying as the non brooding hens killed all of chicks. They had hatched while we weren't home and when we got back the brooding hens were screaming as the other hens ran around with the dead chicks.

My husband checked and all 3 had necks broken. So he helped me quickly move them to a smaller old coop and as the brooding hens stayed in the nesting box we fixed any holes or spots a fox could get into.

Hoping that the others hatch and they live.

 

[aart]

Update:

Sadly before we could move the hens and eggs 3 of them had hatched. It was horrifying as the non brooding hens killed all of chicks. They had hatched while we weren't home and when we got back the brooding hens were screaming as the other hens ran around with the dead chicks.

My husband checked and all 3 had necks broken. So he helped me quickly move them to a smaller old coop and as the brooding hens stayed in the nesting box we fixed any holes or spots a fox could get into.

Hoping that the others hatch and they live.

AACK!!
That's horrible!
Hope the rest work out.