Broody hatched eggs —help!

[upstater]

My hen hatched 4 baby chicks this weekend . I live in upstate NY where the temps are dipping to 30F and are going to get much colder. I have another hen that went broody and they should hatch in 2 weeks. This is my first time with chickens this year.... I I decided to get chicken during the COVID-19 quarantine. I hatched eggs with my kids and decided to keep the chicks! I love it... love the eggs and love watching the chickens. I never expected this and I’m clueless what to do. Do you take the baby chicks inside? With Mom? Do I leave them in the coop? I have 11 hens and 1 Roo.... will they hurt the babies? How will the babies eat or drink if I leave them in the coop? How long can they stay under her? Should I separate them inside the coop? Does anyone have pics of what that should look like? I’ve attached pics of my coop and her .... my coop is 6x8 with an attached run that is 6 x 12. They do free range about 3/4 hours a day. Any advice would be appreciated! Sorry for being long winded!

 

[DobieLover]

My hen hatched 4 baby chicks this weekend . I live in upstate NY where the temps are dipping to 30F and are going to get much colder. I have another hen that went broody and they should hatch in 2 weeks. This is my first time with chickens this year.... I I decided to get chicken during the COVID-19 quarantine. I hatched eggs with my kids and decided to keep the chicks! I love it... love the eggs and love watching the chickens. I never expected this and I’m clueless what to do. Do you take the baby chicks inside? With Mom? Do I leave them in the coop? I have 11 hens and 1 Roo.... will they hurt the babies? How will the babies eat or drink if I leave them in the coop? How long can they stay under her? Should I separate them inside the coop? Does anyone have pics of what that should look like? I’ve attached pics of my coop and her .... my coop is 6x8 with an attached run that is 6 x 12. They do free range about 3/4 hours a day. Any advice would be appreciated! Sorry for being long winded!

I would not separate the mothers and the chicks from the flock. They will protect their chicks. However you may want to consider breaking your broodies in the future instead of allowing them to hatch chicks. Your setup is not large enough to accommodate all of these new chickens. You're going to need a plan for what to do with those cockerels.
As for the feed, you need to switch the entire flock over to something like All Flock, Flock Raiser or a good chick starter. Put out containers of oyster shell on the side for the active layers.
How many eggs did you give each of these girls? I had a broody hatch chicks this past April. She had eight chicks to raise. When they were two weeks old we had a pretty good snow storm. She was a large Cuckoo Marans hen. She did not have trouble keeping her chicks warm.

 

[SebrightMix]

You could separate the mom with the chicks or leave them with the flock. It is entirely your choice. And the mom will take care of the chicks, give them warmth, show them where, Food and water is, and teach them to be a chicken, and also protect them from the others if you let them stay with the flock.

 

[upstater]

I would not separate the mothers and the chicks from the flock. They will protect their chicks. However you may want to consider breaking your broodies in the future instead of allowing them to hatch chicks. Your setup is not large enough to accommodate all of these new chickens. You're going to need a plan for what to do with those cockerels.
As for the feed, you need to switch the entire flock over to something like All Flock, Flock Raiser or a good chick starter. Put out containers of oyster shell on the side for the active layers.
How many eggs did you give each of these girls? I had a broody hatch chicks this past April. She had eight chicks to raise. When they were two weeks old we had a pretty good snow storm. She was a large Cuckoo Marans hen. She did not have trouble keeping her chicks warm.

One hen has 6 eggs 4 hatched so far. The other has 5 eggs .... they both are Black Copper Marans. I tried to get her to stop but every time I came home from work she was sitting on a new batch of eggs. She had plucked all The feathers on her stomach and chest and Self admittedly I gave up.... not the best idea. I have a plan for the Roos so I’m not worried about that, in fact I could give all of them away. The flock is already on flockraiser with Oyster shells on the side. I totally agree this is not An ideal time or situation but now that it’s happened I feel I need to give them their best shot at survival. I actually set up a dog crate inside the coop with a nesting box and moved all the chicks and one last egg that hasn’t hatched this afternoon. I put chick starter and water inside crate for her and the babies.

 

[upstater]

!!!!!!!!Update!!!!!!!

so it’s been a week and I have 4week old chicks and a great Momma hen! She is fiercely protective and a great teacher. It’sso cute to see the littles out in the run with her scratching and pecking away. They chirp louder as they get colder and she comes running back to sit on them. I was worried for nothing, she’s doing a great job and the rest of the flock doesn’t seem bothered at all.

next problem..... broody number 2’s eggs are ready to hatch any day now! What should I do? Will they mother the chicks together? Should I take broody 2 chicks away ???? Ugh I read so many horrible articles about hens killing each other’s chicks.... any advice?

 

[upstater]

Who knew? Watching a mother hen care for her young could be so entertaining and enjoyable! I’ll never hatch out of an incubator again!

 

[bobbi-j]

Did you crate them when you tried to break them? Just removing eggs or tossing them off the nest doesn't work.

It can be done that way, but it’s faster to put them in a crate. I had a broody but didn’t want chicks, so I just kept taking the eggs and tossing her off the nest. Took about 3 weeks. I guess I didn’t really break her, so much as waited until broody hormones died down.

 

[bhawk-23]

I did a mix. I gave mama and babies their own space inside the run and allowed them few days alone in the run. The hens and babies could always hear and see each other though. After that they have free ranged together all day. In the evening mama and babies head to their own space while the hens go to roost. It's worked out well for us!!

 

[upstater]

My experience is limited but I have read of mommas killing chicks. I’ve also read of momma pecking eggs right before hatch. I’ve never experienced that. I did have one of my bantam chicks freak out and start attacking the nest with the chicks. I came I. In the morning to check things and found one chick in a different nest, a just hatched chick not under momma and other things. The other bantam was going at the nest with momma still in it. Momma was doing nothing. She had been fairly protective up until then. I wound up kicking everyone out of the coop except for momma. She was just in a trance and not responding to anything really. That’s the only reason I suggested it could be another chicken. If broody #1 is really protective then she may have prevented anyone from getting her babies. The other one might not be that good at mothering. Of course I don’t know. Just offering possibilities. Did any more hatch? And are they ok? I’m sorry you lost a chick.

Another baby hatched this morning... named it Turkey lol! Another egg has a pip hole Let all the others chicken to free range....She really doesn’t seem to be a great Mom like Broody #1 but hoping she gets the hang of it. I was able to pick chick up and put back down and she didn’t scoot it under her I had to do it.... I really want to keep them all together. The thought of setting up a brooder is overwhelming but I will if I have to. Seems strange that one hatched 2 days ago and now the rest are hatching hopefully today and tomorrow.

 

[DobieLover]

One hen has 6 eggs 4 hatched so far. The other has 5 eggs .... they both are Black Copper Marans. I tried to get her to stop but every time I came home from work she was sitting on a new batch of eggs. She had plucked all The feathers on her stomach and chest and Self admittedly I gave up.... not the best idea. I have a plan for the Roos so I’m not worried about that, in fact I could give all of them away. The flock is already on flockraiser with Oyster shells on the side. I totally agree this is not An ideal time or situation but now that it’s happened I feel I need to give them their best shot at survival. I actually set up a dog crate inside the coop with a nesting box and moved all the chicks and one last egg that hasn’t hatched this afternoon. I put chick starter and water inside crate for her and the babies.

Did you crate them when you tried to break them? Just removing eggs or tossing them off the nest doesn't work.