Egg hatching question

[Colleen pandachicken]

Hi everybody. We were SO excited that one of our broody hens hatched two of her eggs 4 days ago! So exciting! A third chick was hatched that day but it was dead and had fallen out of the nesting box. I think another hen in the coop had either killed it or started eating the dead chick.

So we separated the mama hen and her two healthy baby chicks and the rest of her clutch of unhatched eggs into a totally separate place in the barn in a big plastic bin with a chick feeder and a small/medium chicken watering dish.

It seemed like the mama hen stopped sitting on her other eggs (we also moved the rest of her clutch with her) a day after we moved everything over. She sometimes sits on one or two eggs, but not on the whole clutch anymore.

Then yesterday morning we found another hatched still wet chick, but it was dead, and we found another wet hatched chick today, but it was also dead.

Advice welcome!!!! Is it good that we separated the hen and her chicks? (Was it necessary to protect the chicks from the other hens and roosters?)

If yes, how long do we keep these chicks separated from the adult flock?

Why do you think we’ve found these two new dead chicks yesterday and today? How can they be healthy enough to hatch but not healthy enough to survive?

What should we do with the rest of the clutch?! We can’t put it in the incubator, because we are in the middle of incubating duck eggs. Should we leave them with the mama hen even though she doesn’t seem to be consistently sitting on the eggs anymore, or should we put them under a different broody hen in the barn? Or should we just give up on the rest of the eggs?

If these two chicks are the only ones to survive, do they need more than two chicks to survive? Should I buy some chicks to go with them?

How long do the chicks stay with their mother / need their mother? (I did not put a heat lamp on the bin since they have their mother)

How long until the chicks are safe with the adult chickens?

Thank-you SO much!!!!!!

 

[sourland]

Generally a hen leaves the nest within 36 hours of the first chick hatching. They are biologically programmed to do this so that the chicks can access feed. Some hens will set longer than this, but staggered hatches are generally disastrous. Hatched wet chicks probably died because they were chilled.

 

[LRH97]

I agree with sourland. I'd say the dead chicks you found died as a result of chilling.

When utilizing a broody hen for incubation, I would suggest designating a spot like you've got now and move her before setting the eggs you want to hatch. Allow her to set on fake eggs until you've got your fertile eggs collected, then set all at once. Having a broody spot lets the hen brood in peace without anyone fighting her for her nesting spot and/or laying eggs under her. When another hen adds to the clutch, you will wind up with eggs at different stages of development, resulting in a staggered hatch. It sounds as though the last two were far enough along to manage to hatch, but the hen had already moved off the nest, leaving them chilled. At this point, the rest of the clutch will likely not be viable if there has been no incubation.

Your two will be fine. No need to add. A good mother will tend to her chicks for about 5-7 weeks before she starts giving the love pecks for the kids to move on, or just loses interest.

 

[Colleen pandachicken]

This is all so helpful. Should I leave them in the plastic bin for the 5-7 weeks, separated from the rest of the flock? If yes, should I bring them outside everyday for a little while for fresh air under my supervision? Where do you all keep the mama with her babies? In the barn with the rest or separate? Do you have her free range during that 5-7 weeks?

In nature, how would a hen have hatched her own eggs if there was no human to save all the fertilized eggs and then place them in her clutch?

Thanks so much!

 

[LRH97]

This is all so helpful. Should I leave them in the plastic bin for the 5-7 weeks, separated from the rest of the flock? If yes, should I bring them outside everyday for a little while for fresh air under my supervision? Where do you all keep the mama with her babies? In the barn with the rest or separate? Do you have her free range during that 5-7 weeks?

In nature, how would a hen have hatched her own eggs if there was no human to save all the fertilized eggs and then place them in her clutch?

Thanks so much!

It really depends on your flock dynamic and what works best in your coop setup. Anymore, I just use a dog crate in the coop for a broody hen and chicks. I let them out during the day, and they get locked back up at feeding time. I've also used an entirely separate pen and coop for broodies if I had multiple at the time, or if I felt uncomfortable with letting the hen and chicks out with the rest of the flock. The biggest things are making sure the chicks eat and drink and aren't overly harassed or bullied by older birds. Chicks need crumble and access to water, so accommodations will need to be made there. A good mother hen will also defend her chicks, but can't take on multiple bullies at once.

In nature, a hen would lay until she feels her clutch is complete and then begin brooding, which is more or less what happens in your coop. It's not so much about saving the eggs for her, it's about making sure you start the incubation at the same time for all the eggs so the eggs hatch at roughly the same time. A wild jungle fowl hen would probably not have as many problems with another hen dumping eggs under her since a wild hen wouldn't be in a confined nesting space.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

In nature, how would a hen have hatched her own eggs if there was no human to save all the fertilized eggs and then place them in her clutch?

In nature, she would have laid all of her eggs of multiple days before setting on the nest. She wouldn't have other birds barging in and laying newer eggs underneath her and would have the rom to keep other birds away from her hatched chicks

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have no idea what your coop or nests look like, what your run looks like or size, flock make-up, or your management techniques. There is a whole lot I cannot address as to your specific situation. But I'll try to be fairly generic.

Is it good that we separated the hen and her chicks? (Was it necessary to protect the chicks from the other hens and roosters?)

We do this different ways. Some people isolate broody hens from the flock while they are incubating, while they are hatching, or when they are raising the chicks. Some isolate at different phases only. Some of us do not isolate at all. We are all unique in what we are working with. I don't know if it was necessary for you to protect the chicks from the other hens and roosters or not. I don't but for some people it may be.

If yes, how long do we keep these chicks separated from the adult flock?

I don't at all. Some people do for two or three days to let the chicks become more active. Some isolate for weeks or even months. My personal preference is to not isolate at all as the hens have proven they can manage with my set-up and the hen handles integration for me. Others keep them separated until they have to integrate the hen themselves and the chicks themselves later.

Why do you think we’ve found these two new dead chicks yesterday and today? How can they be healthy enough to hatch but not healthy enough to survive?

It sounds like you had a staggered hatch. Those can be horrible. Before they hatch the chicks absorb the yolk. They can live on this for quite a while so they can wait on the later chicks to hatch. But at some time the hen has to take them off of the nest to look for food and water so they don't starve or die of thirst. She abandons the unhatched chicks. I've had hens wait for over three days to bring their chicks off of the nest, most bring them off earlier. Eggs do not always hatch at exactly 21 days after incubation starts, they can be early or late. It sounds like other hens were adding eggs to the nest after incubation started so they did not hatch in a safe window.

The way to avoid a staggered hatch is to start all the eggs at the same time. I collect all the eggs I want a hen to hatch and start them at the same time. If you isolate the hen during incubation that's all you need to do. Since I let my hens hatch with the flock I mark the eggs (I use a black Sharpie) so I can tell which belong and check under her each day after the other hens have laid and remove any that don't belong.

What should we do with the rest of the clutch?! We can’t put it in the incubator, because we are in the middle of incubating duck eggs. Should we leave them with the mama hen even though she doesn’t seem to be consistently sitting on the eggs anymore, or should we put them under a different broody hen in the barn? Or should we just give up on the rest of the eggs?

The hen has switched from incubating mode to raise the chicks mode. She will not hatch them. It is your choice whether you put them under another broody or dump them. I don't know your situation with other broody hens but would try to avoid another staggered hatch.

If these two chicks are the only ones to survive, do they need more than two chicks to survive? Should I buy some chicks to go with them?

Your choice. Chicks do better when they have company. Your hen will take care of them until she weans them, then she will leave them on their own to make their way with the flock. As long as there are two of them they should do fine. If one dies and leaves the other alone it becomes harder. Not impossible but harder.

How long do the chicks stay with their mother / need their mother?

I've had hens wean their chicks at 3 weeks. I've had some take care of the chicks until well over 2 months. There is no set age.

How long until the chicks are safe with the adult chickens?

Again, I don't know your situation. Mine that were weaned at 3 weeks did fine. But they had a lot of room outside and a lot of room inside the coop so they could avoid the adults. The broody hen raised them with the flock so she handled integration. If you isolate them so she doesn't handle integration you'll need to do that yourself.

In nature, how would a hen have hatched her own eggs if there was no human to save all the fertilized eggs and then place them in her clutch?

When a hen hides a nest (either a feral hen or one in your flock) she is hiding it from predators. In our coops and runs they don't have much room to hide them. A feral hen has a lot of room to hide them and hide them well. The other hens would typically not know where her nest was and did not add eggs to her nest.

The hen lays eggs until she has a clutch (usually around 2 weeks) then she incubates them. This was before we domesticated them and used selective breeding to get them to lay a lot more eggs. Their instinct was like the songbirds. They'd lay a clutch and then go broody. The hens might raise three broods a year.

Today they are domesticated. We keep them in coops and runs with specific nests. There are limited places to lay so they lay together. Many hens retain many of those instincts, especially when they hide a nest, but we don't give them many options. For what it is worth (not much) I find that if a hen stops laying in a regular nest and tries to hide a nest there is a reasonable chance she will go broody later. That does not always happen but it does occasionally.

I don't know if this helps you any or not. Good luck!

 

[Birdsonghill]

All advice and observations from the previous chicken people sounds like good and noteworthy observations and advice. My limited experience hatching intentionally under broody hens has had varying results. Some hens raised a brood of 4 to 7 chicks for me and loosing none or just one or two from freak things or attacks by adults. Others had almost every chick killed by other hens in hours, if I did not remove them for better protection than mom gave them. I started to discourage broodiness and collect all eggs and hatch in an incubator only now. The best mothers I have had were Araucana bantams that defended their chicks very well!

 

[Birdsonghill]

I also use large wire dog crates for isolating hens and brooding chicks both in the coop and in my barn or garage. I put up a draft shield of cardboard or plastic when brooding new chicks around the bottom and rig a heat lamp up and or a homemade heating pad adjustable height chick heater if raising hatchery or incubator chicks in the dog crate. Good Luck!