First natural brooding - are they safe?!

[MommyRooster89]

One of our Black Austrolorps got broody a few weeks ago. We already decided she'd stay in that big coop/pen

with the cockerals we deemed chicken nuggets and had no problem letting her try to hatch them.
We culled that roo about two weeks ago now. So that's the end of his genetics.
So I marked the eggs gently and kept an eye, took out any new eggs. She let me fiddle around and never left.
TODAY I FOUND ONE HATCHING! It's from one of our Easter Eggers, a nice green. I hope it's a girl and not another nugget.

My question:
Her nest is three feet off the ground.
I have a smaller coop I moved some of her old roommates, the keepers for breeding, into. Their nest boxes are lower.
Do I chance moving her and the eggs?! Do I chance the safety of the chick?! The height and many cockerals in that coop/pen worry me.

 

[Miss717]

The chick shouldn't go anywhere for a couple days. When they absorb their yolk sac before they hatch that gets them by for a couple days after they hatch. I would not move momma and the rest of the eggs for a couple days anyway and that will give more time for the other eggs to hatch. Once hatched chicks and momma should be ok to move.

 

[song of joy]

Don't move the hen during the hatch, as the remaining eggs may not hatch successfully. If you feel you need to move them for safety reasons, wait until after the hatch is complete.

 

[MommyRooster89]

Checked morning, one. Checked two hours later, three!
Okay so if they're fine after a couple days, maybe move them.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, but make sure there is a good lip on the nest box so they can't fall out. If it's not high enough, screw a board to it, to make it a bit higher.

 

[MommyRooster89]

So far they're sticking close to her but I'm going to move them to a hardly used box near the ground in the safer coop tonight.
I'll be hopeful for the four that haven't hatched yet and try making the move as stress free as possible.

 

[song of joy]

Congratulations on the hatch and best of luck with the move.

My broody hens move their chicks to the floor of the coop once they take them off the nest, so I put out some hay in the shape of a large nest on the floor in the corner of the coop. This might be helpful for the move, as she may or may not use the box you provide.