Do You Take Newborn Chicks Away From A Broody Hen??

[Miss Lydia]

Not sure on hatch date. The eggs are about half 3/4 full and I saw some feathers so poss a week or week and half?
I will just have to suck it and see!!

Sounds pretty close, look forward to hearing when hatch day arrives and also pics of the happy family.

 

[suebgbr]

Sounds pretty close, look forward to hearing when hatch day arrives and also pics of the happy family.

OMG Miss Lydia, please may I borrow your crystal ball?!

Look what I found when I got home from work tonight




I am glad I didn't leave them with Mum. Someone said it is supposed to be minus 15 degrees tonight so the poor thing wouldn't have lasted too long.


The egg on the end covered in grass is one of the ones not moving, but I expected that. Dirty eggs don't usually hatch!

 

[NovaAman]

I have had moms hatch out eggs in January, and I am right off of lake michigan. And the dirty eggs too. I just make sure they have constant water. I don't like the idea of taking chicks away from a mother unless she's proved not to be good. Maybe I am humanizing them, but I know when my one girl had one of her chicks snatched right after hatching she was devastated and even more aggressive afterwards... She hatched chicks 2 days earlier than I had on the calender. Hot silkies I guess. Anyway, the mom would have been able to keep them warm if you have a nice deep nest...

 

[Miss Lydia]

OMG Miss Lydia, please may I borrow your crystal ball?!

Look what I found when I got home from work tonight




I am glad I didn't leave them with Mum. Someone said it is supposed to be minus 15 degrees tonight so the poor thing wouldn't have lasted too long.


The egg on the end covered in grass is one of the ones not moving, but I expected that. Dirty eggs don't usually hatch!

Looks good, Congrats but what about poor mom? did you leave her any eggs? can you move her inside so she can hatch them out? dog crate shaving food and water?

 

[NovaAman]

Thats an even better idea... move her to the garage maybe? A spare room, bathroom? There is still time.

 

[Currituck Bunny Barn]

I have a broody Buff Orpington setting on 13 mail order eggs. I can't wait until they hatch. I am a newbee and this is my first incubation of eggs. My hen has gone broody twice before so she was delighted with something besides golf balls. I had an area already set up with a brooder coop and fencing. I was going to put ducks in there this spring but it looks like it is now Agatha's retreat for brooding. Thanks for all of the informative posts. I am going to leave the chicks with her after reading all of this. I had thought to bring them in but I stumbled upon the perfect set up, I might as well use it.

 

[farmlife]

I'm glad to hear good mother hen stories because my broody hen just hatched five chicks. This is my first time watching this happen and I had some of the same questions. Mamma seems to be doing great though. I got a little too close with the feeder and got pecked. I'll know better next time. Nobody wants to go to work/ school now. We all want to stay home to watch the mamma and the chicks.

 

[marnette]

I have a broody hen and I am thinking on giving her 3 or 4 eggs to hatch. My only worry is that the nesting boxes are about 3 feet off of the ground. I can't lower the boxes. My questions are- Should I let her hatch out the babies then remove them or let her raise them and try to put a new nesting box in on ground level? Thanks

 

[suebgbr]

In my experience if you can't put a nesting box at ground level, take the chicks away. I lost 5 silkie chicks recently because their nesting box was on the upper level. They either died on impact jumping down or got down but couldn't get back up. I don't know if different breeds will 'carry them up' but silkie feathers arn't made that way

 

[Chickiemama2002]

I have a hen who laid some eggs in a secret spot then started being broody all on her own. We are not 100% sure when she started sitting but are guessing we could have chicks within the next week. My hens are very free range and at night, by choice, they sleep in a tree instead of their coop. Also we make our own feed that is a mix of sprouted and unsprouted grains. Right now the eggs and mama are in the coop. After reading this thread I think it is best to see if she will continue to be broody after they are born, they are her first chicks she is just over a year old, and hopefully she will raise them. What I plan on doing is fencing off a portion of the yard for her and the babies after they are born and making some kind of laying box/ container for them to go into at night and get out of the sun during the day, we live in AZ so it is pretty warm during the day. Does this sound like a good idea? Should I buy the babies grower feed or can they eat the grains that Mama will be eating? How long should they be separated from the rest of the flock? When I incorporate them back into the flock will Mama still try to sleep in the tree or will she take the babies into the coop, at what age can the babies climb the ramp? These are the first chicks we are raising with a broody hen, we usually just buy day old chicks and raise them indoors. So we are new to all this, thanks for your help!