Did she shrink wrap her eggs?!

[Jener8or]

Cute! I love her. Beautiful chicks, too! It looks like you got some nice colors!

 

[SilverCreekChic]

Cute! I love her. Beautiful chicks, too! It looks like you got some nice colors!

Ack. She’s stopped sitting on the other eggs. They’re behind the others by a week or so. We had a sneaky hen laying her eggs near her while we were away on vacation.
If I incubate these eggs to hatch them, will she accept the chicks?

 

[Jener8or]

Ack. She’s stopped sitting on the other eggs. They’re behind the others by a week or so. We had a sneaky hen laying her eggs near her while we were away on vacation.
If I incubate these eggs to hatch them, will she accept the chicks?

If they are a week behind, she probably won't. Sometimes you can get away with it within a day or two, but it's a lot harder to after that. Can you set up a brooder somewhere?

 

[SilverCreekChic]

If they are a week behind, she probably won't. Sometimes you can get away with it within a day or two, but it's a lot harder to after that. Can you set up a brooder somewhere?

I could set one up in their coop. If I do, how long do they need to be separated for?

 

[Jener8or]

I could set one up in their coop. If I do, how long do they need to be separated for?

I usually wait until they are close to adult size to let them out with the rest of the flock. I use a large stock tank to brood them in when they are chicks and then an intermediate brooder once they are close to fully feathered that is out with the other chickens for a couple or few weeks after that.

 

[Yardmom]

My simple answer to when can chicks go in the coop is as soon as possible. Integrating chicks is easier when they are younger. I have provided a heat source and a safe place with a chick size hole with newly hatched chicks. I have placed chicks anywhere between 2-6 weeks directly in the coop without heat depending on temperatures.
Most chickens don't consider chicks a threat or a challenge to their flock status so they leave them alone. Chicks also quickly figure out which beaks need to be avoided.

 

[SilverCreekChic]

My simple answer to when can chicks go in the coop is as soon as possible. Integrating chicks is easier when they are younger. I have provided a heat source and a safe place with a chick size hole with newly hatched chicks. I have placed chicks anywhere between 2-6 weeks directly in the coop without heat depending on temperatures.
Most chickens don't consider chicks a threat or a challenge to their flock status so they leave them alone. Chicks also quickly figure out which beaks need to be avoided.

Love this. Our brooder space is in the coop, so it makes integration much easier since they’re seen from the beginning. I ended up candling the remaining eggs. One was much further along than the others, so I put it in the incubator. I’m hoping it will hatch within the day and I can integrate it with the mamma and her chicks, which hatched on Monday. She hatched them in an old coop turned nesting box, and claimed it as her space lol.

 

[SilverCreekChic]

My simple answer to when can chicks go in the coop is as soon as possible. Integrating chicks is easier when they are younger. I have provided a heat source and a safe place with a chick size hole with newly hatched chicks. I have placed chicks anywhere between 2-6 weeks directly in the coop without heat depending on temperatures.
Most chickens don't consider chicks a threat or a challenge to their flock status so they leave them alone. Chicks also quickly figure out which beaks need to be avoided.

Unfortunately, one the chicks fell out from the brooder coop (in their run, it does have a ramp) and we found it half eaten in the main coop. I had just checked on them 45 minutes prior too. Super sad. We have since moved mama hen and the remaining four chicks into our brooder pen in the main coop. They’re seen, but safe now.