Desperate for advice!

[alexandradawe]

Oh i see. I usually place my broody well away from the rest of them. I have 2 enclousures.
So one for the big gang and one for my mother hen.
She has chicks now and can make them grow up with minimal disturbance from the other group.
Plus this mother is not the top hen.
The other hen ( who had chicks before her) she will not let her and her babies have food.
And im afraid other hens will pick on them

We just have the one coop and enclosure, we figured we'd move the chicks into a run when they were born, with their own food and water, but so that the other hens could see them and their mum, so hopefully they integrate into the flock easily. There's only 5 hens and a cockerel in total.

 

[chickens really]

Yep, she caught us unawares. We didn't think we had broody breeds so never thought about it. We went away for a few days and left them with a teenager coming in just to feed and open and close up daily. Came back and the hen sitter said one of them hadn't left the coop the whole time we were away. So it was a bit out of the blue, we were totally unprepared. I think I'll be spending tomorrow in the henhouse!

Try not to interfere too much because that can cause stress to the Momma and she might injure the Chicks to keep you from seeing them....Best wishes.....Hope your Hatch is a success!....

 

[Spiderduck]

We just have the one coop and enclosure, we figured we'd move the chicks into a run when they were born, with their own food and water, but so that the other hens could see them and their mum, so hopefully they integrate into the flock easily. There's only 5 hens and a cockerel in total.

Thats perfect to do!
Well done on you and your new chicks soon
Make sure to top up food often as they do eat a lot. Plus feed for mummy too.
And also a thin small water contanier. Im using a frisbee filled up. Its so the chicks dont drown in the water when they want a drink. Mine died like this a while back and i havent made that mistake again. Just top up the water often like 5 times a day depends if your chicks and mummy are messy and spill the water.

 

[alexandradawe]

I thought I'd better update, in case anyone was wondering! Matilda (our cuckoo maran) went broody. We had 6 eggs from a breeder, and put two of our own under her as well. So she was sat on 8.

Matilda broke 2 of the 8 fairly early on. I don't know if that was from being clumsy or some instinct telling her that there was a problem.

The day before the eggs were due to hatch I found two eggs broken, both with fully formed chicks inside. I don't know if she stood on them by mistake, or if one started to hatch and she didn't understand what was happening, no idea what went on there. It was very sad The shells were smashed to bits so I think she did stand on them somehow.

We left the remaining 4 under her, but we were nervous that she was breaking them on purpose, or just massively clumsy, either way we decided to put the eggs in an incubator and give Matilda some chicks. She seemed to like them at first, but after a few hours she went off the idea of motherhood! She rejoined the flock and isn't broody anymore. We're raising the 8 chicks indoors, hoping we get 4 girls!

Once the eggs in the incubator were a week past their due date we broke them open. Three were unfertilised, they just looked like a normal egg you'd cook with. The last one had been fertilised, but hadn't developed into anything, it looked like runny custard.

So out of 8 eggs there would only have been two chicks! One of the breeders (a yellow chick) and one of our own (a black chick). I think I'll just buy chicks and hens in future, eggs are way too much drama!

The 8 chicks we bought are 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Vorwerks, and 4 Silkies. We already have a Cuckoo Maran, a French Blue, a Coppr Black and two Jubilee Orpingtons. We're planning on keeping a cockerel, either a Vorwerk or a Silkie as we've heard they're pretty calm. I keep reading that Rhode Island Red cockerels are aggressive so we're hoping they're girls!

The chicks vary in age by a few days either way, but they're about 4 weeks old. It's sunny and warm today so they're in a run on the grass outside, where they can see our older girls and they can all start getting used to each other (Hopefully!)

 

[MillersFarm]

I thought I'd better update, in case anyone was wondering! Matilda (our cuckoo maran) went broody. We had 6 eggs from a breeder, and put two of our own under her as well. So she was sat on 8.

Matilda broke 2 of the 8 fairly early on. I don't know if that was from being clumsy or some instinct telling her that there was a problem.

The day before the eggs were due to hatch I found two eggs broken, both with fully formed chicks inside. I don't know if she stood on them by mistake, or if one started to hatch and she didn't understand what was happening, no idea what went on there. It was very sad The shells were smashed to bits so I think she did stand on them somehow.

We left the remaining 4 under her, but we were nervous that she was breaking them on purpose, or just massively clumsy, either way we decided to put the eggs in an incubator and give Matilda some chicks. She seemed to like them at first, but after a few hours she went off the idea of motherhood! She rejoined the flock and isn't broody anymore. We're raising the 8 chicks indoors, hoping we get 4 girls!

Once the eggs in the incubator were a week past their due date we broke them open. Three were unfertilised, they just looked like a normal egg you'd cook with. The last one had been fertilised, but hadn't developed into anything, it looked like runny custard.

So out of 8 eggs there would only have been two chicks! One of the breeders (a yellow chick) and one of our own (a black chick). I think I'll just buy chicks and hens in future, eggs are way too much drama!

The 8 chicks we bought are 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Vorwerks, and 4 Silkies. We already have a Cuckoo Maran, a French Blue, a Coppr Black and two Jubilee Orpingtons. We're planning on keeping a cockerel, either a Vorwerk or a Silkie as we've heard they're pretty calm. I keep reading that Rhode Island Red cockerels are aggressive so we're hoping they're girls!

The chicks vary in age by a few days either way, but they're about 4 weeks old. It's sunny and warm today so they're in a run on the grass outside, where they can see our older girls and they can all start getting used to each other (Hopefully!)

Its nice to hear that the remaining chicks are well. But for the future i;d suggest separating the hen and her eggs from the rest if the flock. Was she on the nest when you found the dead chicks? She could have possibly been kicked out by another flock member which could have killed the two