Broody Hen just hatched egg, next step?

[Ckkramer22]

Hello!
So my broody hen just hatched her first egg. By the look of the chick, I think it hatched at least 2 days ago. Her nest is currently in the coop with the other hens and ducks. How do I move hen and chick safely to a different area? . Will the mamma hen learn her chick is in a new nest or should I be worried she will leave it? Have an extra small coop with an enclosed run for them
Any tips are welcome, this is my first time hatching and I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen. I was about to take the nest away and force her to get out of broody mode and found a chick instead.
Also, assuming I need to go pick up some chick feed?

 

[DobieLover]

How do I move hen and chick safely to a different area? .

She can integrate with the flock as soon as she likes. You don't need to move her. Just remove any barriers the prevent her from coming and going as she sees fit.

Also, assuming I need to go pick up some chick feed?

Mom feeds the chicks. The entire flock should be on chick starter or Flock Raiser with a container of oyster shell on the side for any active layers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me you have two basic choices. You can let Mama handle practically everything. When she is ready she will bring the chick off of the nest and take it to food and water. That is your job, have food and water where the chick can get to it. For me, that means on the coop floor. What happens after that depends on the hen and what your coop and run look like. My broody hens usually keep the chicks on the coop floor for a couple of days before taking them outside. When it gets dark they bring the chicks back inside to sleep on the coop floor. After that, every day Mama takes the chicks outside in the morning and brings them back inside at night.

I don't know what your coop or run look like. You need to be there as they are bedding down at night to make sure everything is OK. Sometimes the chicks have trouble getting back inside, especially if you have an elevated coop with a ramp, but other configurations can cause problems.

The other option is to isolate the hen and chick. If you do that you need an area you can lock the hen and chick in and all the other chickens and ducks out. Make sure the chick cannot escape from that area. If it gets out away from Mama's protection, it is in danger from the others. When I move a broody and her chicks I pick the broody up first and lock her where they are going. If I don't do her first she will probably attack me when I pick up a chick. Then I catch the chicks and put them in the enclosure with the hen. A good broody hen protects her chicks from all threats.

Before you pick up the hen make sure you know where her chick is. I killed a chick once when I picked up the broody. The chick had crawled up under her wing and I crushed it when I picked the hen up. Not a good feeling.

There are variations off these but I think these are your basic options. For a broody hen to raise her chicks with the flock she needs enough room to operate. If your coop or run either one are tiny you may be better off isolating them. But then you will have to integrate them back with the flock later instead of letting Mama do that now. If you don't have enough room for Mama to raise them with the flock you may find integrating them later to be a challenge.

Good luck.

 

[drdoct]

We've entered our last week with a broody on 4 eggs. If and when they hatch.... what do you do with the egg shells? Do they eat them? Or just remove them after all the chicks are hatched?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

We've entered our last week with a broody on 4 eggs. If and when they hatch.... what do you do with the egg shells? Do they eat them? Or just remove them after all the chicks are hatched?

Mama usually throws the shells out of the nest. But you can pick them out if you want. It's okay for the flock to eat the shells, but some don't allow it to discourage egg-eaters.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I clean out the nest, bedding, shells, unhatched eggs and all and toss that in the compost pile. I open the unhatched eggs to see when they stopped developing and bury that a bit in the compost. I don't know how you dispose of your trash. The chicks have been pooping in there for a while and there is dried gunk from hatching. My nests are high enough the hen does not take the chicks back to the nest to sleep, instead they sleep on the coop floor. So I just clean it up and start fresh so they can lay eggs in a clean nest.

I don't worry about the hens eating the egg shells from the compost pile. Many people do so crush them if you want to. Just takes a few seconds.