Chick needs with mama hen

[Lmnall01]

I have a broody hen that hatched a chick this morning. She and the chick are in a nesting box in the coop with eight other hens and a rooster. Will she feed the chick? I have chick starter feed, do I need to put that close? put it farther away?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

She'll feed them. I have a broody that just hatched out a dozen babies in my layer coop (theres about 25 chickens, 2 turkeys and a trio of ducks that live in that coop). She brought them out of the nest box today and has parked herself under the hanging feeder, much to the dismay of the other birds She isn't the nicest hen, and there are quite a few stray feathers laying around from where the others have gotten too close to her and her brood.

 

[RM44]

I put mamma and the new babies in a dog kennel inside the run for the first week (to allow the babies to get at the starter food without the other hens eating it all up). After a week I open the kennel door and let them go in and out, and then I close the kennel door and keep the starter food inside so that only the babies can squeeze through the bars while the adult hens continue to eat the layer food. It has worked well for 3 broods now.

But mamma will take care of them even if you don't build a "creep" for the babies. I am surprised at how well mamma takes care of those babies. And then you don't have any trouble integrating (because you don't have to integrate!).