Broody with chicks ~~~~~ PHOTOS on post 10!!!!!!!!!

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

OK our broody (buff orpington) (1st time broody by the way) hatched out 5 of her 8 eggs today, and one more is pipped, the other 2 nothing so far BUT the eggs werent "supposed" to hatch until tomorrow so I am still holding out hope for the other eggs.

The eggs were given to me by a friend from here on BYC and they are BBS orpington eggs! So far I can tell that some of the chicks are nearly solid black and one is black and white! What that means I have NO clue lol

My questions are...

What to do with broody Momma and babies that are hatched out? They are currently in our camper coop that we had just started to redo in a extra large plastic dog crate.

I am afraid to leave them in there as its not totally secure yet. Should I trade her places with our 10 eight week old chicks that are inside the house in our huge brooder? Would that be acceptable do you all think? The brooder is 3 foot long, 2 foot wide and 3 foot tall.

Oh AND I know you all want to see photos and I will take them tomorrow, I didnt want to make her mad today as those other 3 eggs need her fluffy butt! lol

 

[cnj-tx50]

I am wondering the same thing as we can not get back to finish our broody coop until Saturday and I think mine are going to hatch tonight. Mom and nest box is inside an extra large dog crate so I am wondering if that will hold them until this weekend. I think out of six eggs four are trying to hatch.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
I would just leave ours alone where they are BUT the camper has a "sunroof vent" and its leaking and we have to get in there and try to correct that before we start to move our hens in there. The ideal situation would of been to of had the camper coop done by now, so that we could put our 3 other hens in it, the 10 eight week old chicks in their coop and the broody momma and fresh chicks in the other coop that the 2 other hens are in (as we had planned on have the 5 hens all introduced and in the camper coop by now) BUT money killed that plan! lol

We are super excited though to be getting 8 panels of 6 foot privacy fencing for FREE tomorrow morning. So that will be a HUGE help in getting the coop ready!!!!

 

[ScoobyRoo]

I didn't move mine. I was able to plan ahead and get them secured. Sometimes unforeseen things happen, like another broody.

then you really are in a jam! *lol*

have fun with them. I'm sure mama will protect them. Can you put up a divider of some sort to keep others out?

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Henry'schickens :

I didn't move mine. I was able to plan ahead and get them secured. Sometimes unforeseen things happen, like another broody.

then you really are in a jam! *lol*

have fun with them. I'm sure mama will protect them. Can you put up a divider of some sort to keep others out?

I think I will leave her alone and hope for the best, and wish the weekend here quicker so we can get REALLY moving on the camper coop. That or make DH make us a tractor for her and the chicks to be in until everything is done! lol​

 

[cnj-tx50]

So we now have three babies and 2 more to hatch. So I am wondering if they will be able to wait until Saturday night or Sunday when we finish the broody house or if I should move them to some other confined space. Will the mom want to take them out soon?

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Not real sure if yours can stay where they are or not, I guess as long as the momma can keep them safe and sound then where they are should be fine and dandy!!

We still have 5 chicks, the other 3 are just there lol the one I thought was pipped wasnt, it was sorta stuck inside a empty shell from one of the other chicks and it was a trick on the eye!

 

[ChicknCharm]

Hi All!
We have done about 4 hatches with broody hens this Spring, we kept them in a dog carrier for the broody box and left them with their chicks in the carrier for several weeks, at least two or three. This was a large carrier. It was also cold. So, if this latest group hatches (we had our hen off the eggs all night last night), we will keep them with mama in the broody box (dog carrier) in the coop. The carrier is large enough to add a chick waterer and feeder for mama and the wee ones.

Good luck! Post pics.

 

[calicokat]

So, I have my broody hen set up in a Lg. cat carrier with about 4 inches of straw under her. eggs are due to hatch Friday.

Do I need to clear that straw out once the eggs hatch and replace it with an inch or so layer of pine bedding? Will I need to clear out the hatched egg shells? I have a bigger brooder set up inside the house (a Med. Dog cage) would it be good to move momma and babies to that once they've hatched? Well, and to complicate the last question, I have 10 chicks I'm planning on slipping in with the momma after an egg hatches - soooooooo, do I wait for eggs to hatch, slip chickies under momma after dark that night, then move them all to the larger brooder in the house the next day????? (can you tell it's my first broody, I'm so nervous!!

)

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Here are photos of the 5 that have hatched thus far! Plus one of our 9yr old daughter, look at the look on her face, can you tell she is a proud "Momma" lol