Down to the last few days, new questions arise!

[andreanar]

My girls chicks are due to hatch in 3 more days. She pooped on them yesterday, I scraped as much off as I could, hope they're ok?
She's brooding in a high nest, I have a cage all set up for her in the coop and was planning to move her and the chicks after they hatch. Good idea or no? I'm scared to move her in case she gives up and stops sitting . I tried moving her early on and she wasn't having it.

How long can she eat chick food?

We have a rat getting in the coop, he either gets in or got in at some time and is living in there! I can't find any openings.

Will it harm the chicks? Right now it's just eating all the food. I've tried several traps but no luck yet.

As time gets closer I get more worried about everything. It's my first time hatching, and Ethels first time too. When she comes out of the nest to eat, drink and bathe, she acts like a lunatic. Squawking and flying around.

 

[RosieR]

Rats will eat quail so I imagine it would eat a chick since they are even smaller. Hopefully your rat is content with chicken feed!
Apparently they are smart enough to hide their entry’s. If it dug under it likely covered the hole. It could take some time to find its doorway.
Good luck with your hatch!

 

[oregonkat]

A rat will absolutely try to eat the chicks. Hopefully your mother hen will aggressively protect the babies. You could set up a humane live trap to catch it without injuring any hens with a standard trap. I would try to get the rat asap. If you are going to move the hen and babies, do it at night when she cant see what is going on. Have the new area ready for her and she and the chicks should be fine.

 

[andreanar]

@KikisGirls @pitbullmomma
What about how long she can eat chick food?
And did her pooping on the eggs harm them?

Ive tried the water bucket method, a few diff rat traps from TSC, poison under the coop where the chickens can't get to, and a small have a heart trap. Nooo go, this thing is smart. We pick up the food at night. I've sat near coop doorway for hours, waiting for it to show itself, nothing! UGH

 

[Kiki]

The mom can eat chick food for a while, she isn't laying so she doesn't really need the extra calcium in Layer feed right now.
I'd move her as soon as the eggs hatch til you can figure out where the rat is coming in from. I wouldn't worry about the poop

 

[PachecoPeeps]

My girls chicks are due to hatch in 3 more days. She pooped on them yesterday, I scraped as much off as I could, hope they're ok?
She's brooding in a high nest, I have a cage all set up for her in the coop and was planning to move her and the chicks after they hatch. Good idea or no? I'm scared to move her in case she gives up and stops sitting . I tried moving her early on and she wasn't having it.

How long can she eat chick food?

We have a rat getting in the coop, he either gets in or got in at some time and is living in there! I can't find any openings. View attachment 1445456 Will it harm the chicks? Right now it's just eating all the food. I've tried several traps but no luck yet.

As time gets closer I get more worried about everything. It's my first time hatching, and Ethels first time too. When she comes out of the nest to eat, drink and bathe, she acts like a lunatic. Squawking and flying around.

I wouldn't worry about the poop. We were worried about our mama hen a couple days before hatch because she hadn't pooped and of course she ended up pooping on the hatching chicks -_- we ended up cleaning up the poop and all of the chicks were fine. She had pooped once on the eggs too and we just carefully cleaned them.

As far as food good she can eat chick food until she is done raising the baby chicks.

I would definitely move her because she is up high, the possibility of the rat killing the babies, and the possibility of the other hens killing the chicks.

Good luck with your hatch

 

[SurferchickinSB]

My girls chicks are due to hatch in 3 more days. She pooped on them yesterday, I scraped as much off as I could, hope they're ok?
She's brooding in a high nest, I have a cage all set up for her in the coop and was planning to move her and the chicks after they hatch. Good idea or no? I'm scared to move her in case she gives up and stops sitting . I tried moving her early on and she wasn't having it.

How long can she eat chick food?

We have a rat getting in the coop, he either gets in or got in at some time and is living in there! I can't find any openings. View attachment 1445456 Will it harm the chicks? Right now it's just eating all the food. I've tried several traps but no luck yet.

As time gets closer I get more worried about everything. It's my first time hatching, and Ethels first time too. When she comes out of the nest to eat, drink and bathe, she acts like a lunatic. Squawking and flying around.

Oh, you had better get rid of that rat before your chicks hatch! It will kill and eat them!

 

[Kiki]

How's it going today?

 

[andreanar]

Tomorrow is day 21! Gahhh
I still can't get that rat! As soon as chicks hatch, I'll move them to a cage inside the coop. The cage is lined in 1/4 inch hardware cloth. I have a piece of cardboard up on nest so the chicks can't fall or jump out, but mama can jump up and over.

I checked eggs today and all 5 look good. I listened to them, but can't hear anything. I candled and see no internal pips yet, but the eggs look dark, except where the air cell is.
I was careful to keep the eggs in the same position they were in under mama.
I really have no idea what to expect now. Just wait and watch I suppose. Ugh. I'm praying she gets at least a few healthy chicks, she's been such a tough little mama and she's starting to look a bit tired.
That rat tho! As soon as the eggs hatch and mama and chicks are in that cage, I'm going to pull everything, wood chips, everything out of that coop and get that chicken food stealing nasty thing!

 

[Kiki]