Broody Hen hatched chicks over the weekend. Have some ?'s

[cwalraven72]

One of my hens became a mommy over the weekend for the first time. Three eggs hatched, and there is still one egg left in the nest. Now I'm not sure what to do. This is the first time we had any eggs hatch. Last night we put a small bowl of water and some medicated crumbles in the nest box.

The hen and the babies are in the main pen with all the other chickens. Do I need to move mommy and the babies to my brooder box, so the other hens won't bother them? I have 6 six-week old chicks in the box now, but I can put a divider in the box to seperate them from the hen and her babies.

The nest box she has been sitting in is about 3ft off the ground, if they stay in the main pen should I move them down to the bottom nest box, so the babies won't fall out?



I would appreciate any feedback or more info.

Thanks,

 

[Sunny Side Up]

and

congratulations on the hatch!

I think it's ideal to keep the Mama hen & her chicks in their own separate place for the first few weeks, at least. And certainly at ground level. The chicks might manage a 3' drop to the floor but would never be able to make it back up. The hen would probably stay on the ground with them, or she might be ditzy enough to hop back up into the nest box & cluck to her screeching chicks below to follow her. Some hens are able to defend their chicks from other adults, some adults are less aggressive towards chicks, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Perhaps you could just fence off a corner of your adult pen for Mama & her chicks. She will most likely be wanting to leave her chicks & return to the flock after 4-9 weeks or so. Then you'll need to keep those chicks separated until they are adults.

I wish you success & enjoyment with them all!

 

[Kittymomma]

Move them down to a lower nest, you don't want a chick to fall out and get seperated from momma. Some people leave them with the flock and others seperate them, there are pros and cons to both methods. Get the bowl of water out ASAP, the chicks can drown in a bowel. You need to use a chick waterer or put clean rocks or marbles in a shallow bowl so that the chicks can't drown. Broody mommas and their chicks are a blast, enjoy!

 

[cwalraven72]

Thanks for the info.

I did read that the chicks could drown in a bowl, so we did add some pebbles to the bowl to make it shallow.

If I seperate the hen and babies from the main floc, is it OK to let the hen eat the medicated crumbles or should I put some scratch feed in the box along with medicated crumbles.

Thanks,

 

[Sunny Side Up]

The hen can eat chick crumbles, medicated or non. It may not be necessary for these chicks to receive medicated feed if they will be raised with their Mama. But if that's all you have, it's okay. Scratch grains are just a treat for adult birds and not necessary for the growth of chicks.