Broody momma hatched chicks, do I separate them?

[RevlisRemmah]

I am second-guessing my plan so much now that the chicks are actually hatching.

Originally I was planning to make a little area inside of the run with a covered dog crate and the little rabbit hutch nesting box momma is sitting in.
Right now she’s in the rabbit hutch nesting box in the coop but does not have her own area, it’s open to her sisters and a Rooster. She has 2 babies so far, tomorrow is day 21 so I’m hoping more of the 6 eggs she has hatch.

It’s going to rain all day tomorrow so I’m concerned about moving them outside tomorrow. They will be covered but will it freak her out? Will she still sit in that box if I move it outside the coop? Can I wait until Friday to move them outside? Do I have to separate them from the flock?

Here is her little set up right now, just a rabbit hutch box in the corner of the coop. Should I just fence off an area inside the coop? I just feel so conflicted. If I leave her inside the coop I will have to separate an area so I can get some food and water down for the chicks to reach.

Side note, I have a brooder I can set up- I’m actually getting 18 chicks next week. I’d rather have these babies flock raised if I can hack it!

 

[HappyClucker7]

Do you have to separate the mom and babies from the flock? I let my broody raise chicks with the other hens and didn't have a problem.

 

[Cecisflock]

Should I just fence off an area inside the coop?

that is such a good idea!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I appreciate your concern. It's hard to know what to do and you really don't want anything bad to happen to those chicks. Unfortunately no matter what you do there is an element of risk. It's that way with any living animals, not just baby chicks.

Personally I let my broody hens hatch with the flock and raise the chicks with the flock. I'm glad to have a dominant rooster with the flock. I've never had a dominant rooster threaten the chicks. Usually he ignores them but I have had a few dominant roosters help Mama out when she needed it. The other hens are usually not a problem but occasionally Mama whips butt. Usually when it comes to that Mama is so scary the others just run away, no real fighting. A protective broody hen can be scary.

What I do is put down a piece of plywood or cardboard on top of the shavings and put food and water on that. The chickens do a lot of scratching, both the broody and chicks and the other chickens, so the food and especially water can have a lot of bedding scratched in them, the plywood makes it easier to keep it clean. The other chickens can be a pain in the butt. When I put food out for the chicks the adults think it is a special treat and wipe it out, even if it is the same feed they are getting. I just keep filling it up until they give up.

I let my broody hens decide when to bring her chicks off of the nest. Typically mine keep their chicks in the coop for a couple of days before taking them outside. Once she starts taking them outside they go out early every day and she brings them back in late. My nests are higher than yours so my broody hens take the chicks to sleep on the coop floor. With your nest on the floor like that she may take them back inside so when she brings them off you might want to clean that nest.

An option is to build something around that nest to keep her and the chicks in and the other chickens out. It will need a top as well as walls and be big enough for food and water. For the first few days it doesn't have to be huge, but the chicks will grow fast. Or you can build a pen somewhere else. It needs be predator proof and keep the rain out. No matter how you do this, make sure you are down there at bedtime to make sure everything is OK. If a chick is somehow separated from Mama it will be peeping, you'll know.

Some warnings. Baby chicks sometimes like to crawl up under Mama's feathers, especially under wings but they can go other places. I killed a chick once when I picked the broody hen up. A chick had crawled up under a wing and I crushed it. I still pick a broody hen up if I need to but I don't do that without a reason and I'm careful when I do.
If you do try to isolate the hen and chicks be very careful that the chicks can't get somewhere Mama cannot protect them. Those chicks are pretty small and active. Make sure any fence you use has holes so small they can't get through. Don't leave any gaps at gates or corners they can get through. It's easy to leave gaps under your fence too. I had this issue before when a chick got through a gate into a pen of 8 week olds where Mama could not protect it. They killed it. I was pretty upset a week of so ago when another forum member said a chick she had isolated with its Mama got out through a hole and the other hens killed it. If Mama could have gotten out the chick would have been fine. This is part of what I mean when I say no matter what you do something can happen.

Don't let me scare you. It's a great adventure and the majority of the time it works really well. Good luck and congratulations on those two chicks. Here's hoping for several more.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

Do you have to separate the mom and babies from the flock? I let my broody raise chicks with the other hens and didn't have a problem.

I don’t have to! I just have to figure out how keep water and food at chick level without the grown ones stepping all in it and spilling it. They have raised water and PVC pipe feeders currently

 

[HappyClucker7]

I don’t have to! I just have to figure out how keep water and food at chick level without the grown ones stepping all in it and spilling it. They have raised water and PVC pipe feeders currently

I had a little spot for the chicks to go under that the older hens were too big for. I put the food and water there. Maybe you could make something like that?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I made this from scraps to use outside. Just something the hens can't get their heads in. I doesn't have to be much. Put the feeder under it.

I use something like this to water them. This is for older chickens. For baby chicks I fill it with rocks so they don't drown. They will poop in it so you have to dump it daily, but you should do that anyway if mosquitoes mosquitoes can get to your water. They'll lay eggs in it. You don't want to be breeding mosquitoes.

 

[TSP]

I’m facing the same kind of issue right now. About 10 days ago I only counted 12 hens instead of 13. Mine free range a lot and I decided not to tell my wife that one of the ladies had probably gotten eaten. Yesterday I was going to add new straw to the coop and I keep it up off the ground on a high shelf under the eave of the house. When I pulled the front bale off, there sat my 13th hen on a nest made from the remainder of the last bale. Eight eggs under her… I think a newly hatched chick would die from the chest high fall but haven’t gotten the gumption to move her and the nest yet. Please keep the advice coming, others are reading along. Also, I didn’t think bielefelders were particularly broody. This is the third broody I’ve had so far this spring!

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I’m facing the same kind of issue right now. About 10 days ago I only counted 12 hens instead of 13. Mine free range a lot and I decided not to tell my wife that one of the ladies had probably gotten eaten. Yesterday I was going to add new straw to the coop and I keep it up off the ground on a high shelf under the eave of the house. When I pulled the front bale off, there sat my 13th hen on a nest made from the remainder of the last bale. Eight eggs under her… I think a newly hatched chick would die from the chest high fall but haven’t gotten the gumption to move her and the nest yet. Please keep the advice coming, others are reading along. Also, I didn’t think bielefelders were particularly broody. This is the third broody I’ve had so far this spring!

Mine is an Olive Egger that was hatched June of last year!!! I never thought I would have a broody!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think a newly hatched chick would die from the chest high fall but haven’t gotten the gumption to move her and the nest yet.

I've seen a broody hen get her chicks out of a 10' high hay loft. She flew to the ground, said "jump", and they did, then bounced up and ran to her. Mine often hatch in a nest about 4' above the coop floor, the hen gets them down. I don't know what that area looks like but I would not move her just because of the height.