first time letting silkies hatch with mom

[ReneM17]

Hello!

So ive had silkies for almost 2 years now. Ive had good hatches and bad hatches before. but every time i had a few chicks I would raise them sepparately from the other hens because i was scared they might get hurt by other chickens. This time however Ive decided to let the chicks hatch and stay with the hen, since I dont have any room to put them inside. I currently have 9 chickens and 8 eggs. I have 6 hens, 1 adult rooster and 2 young adult roosters. the roosters and hens get along well, though they keep their distance from eachother. One of my hens layed 8 eggs in total. but the last few days 2 other hens have decided to join her and they now are sitting on the 8 eggs together. I am afraid that they will fight over the chicks or maybe hurt them because they smell like another hen. I was planning on sepparating 2 of the hens from the rest of the flock and give 4 eggs to each hen. (the 3rd hen is still pretty young and she keeps stealing eggs to sit on them herself. after some while she tends to leave the nest often so i have given her a egg which is not furtilized.) anyway. what are your thoughts on this? should i leave the 2 hens together apart from the flock or should i just leave one hen with all 8 eggs? Any tips for having chicks outside for the first time? they do have a small gardenhouse that they live in and its safe from wind and rain. Are there any other things I should concider when leaving the chicks with their mothers? something with the food or water or putting in clean hay? could i just leave the mother and the chicks with the rest of the flock? Sorry im going all over in this post. english isnt my first language. I may include a picture in the future.

thanks in advance!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Break all but the original hen---don't share her eggs. No since in all the hens being broody. Put them in the broody breaker cage. I personally would move the setting hen, but I think you want her to hatch with the flock. Good Luck

 

[ReneM17]

thanks for your reply! im moving the t this saturday. so I should leave the hatching to one hen and sepparate them from the rest? im going to place 2 planks of wood in the corner to make a small cornered off space for the hen to sit with her chicks. they will all still be in same coop but wirh a wall between them. is this good? also do you have any tips about feeding or the hay? should i put in clean hay? and should i try to feed the chicks myself or just lay some food and let the mother do the work? thankd again!

 

[ReneM17]

Break all but the original hen---don't share her eggs. No since in all the hens being broody. Put them in the broody breaker cage. I personally would move the setting hen, but I think you want her to hatch with the flock. Good Luck

sorry forgot to quote you in the msg above

 

[PD-Riverman]

thanks for your reply! im moving the t this saturday. so I should leave the hatching to one hen and sepparate them from the rest? im going to place 2 planks of wood in the corner to make a small cornered off space for the hen to sit with her chicks. they will all still be in same coop but wirh a wall between them. is this good? also do you have any tips about feeding or the hay? should i put in clean hay? and should i try to feed the chicks myself or just lay some food and let the mother do the work? thankd again!

Were all the eggs set the same day/same time or were there eggs added by other hens days Later? If all at the same time---she will hatch them and get off the nest to look for food(you have some a couple feet away from the nest is best---not beside the nest). Chicks will be fine for 2 or 3 days without food or water---they live off the egg yolk they absorbed.
Now if eggs were added---some even days later----you got a staggered Hatch---which is Not a good thing to have------I never Allow that to happen---never. If it is a staggered hatch---many different things can happen. I want go into that unless you reply back saying that is what you have.

 

[ReneM17]

Were all the eggs set the same day/same time or were there eggs added by other hens days Later? If all at the same time---she will hatch them and get off the nest to look for food(you have some a couple feet away from the nest is best---not beside the nest). Chicks will be fine for 2 or 3 days without food or water---they live off the egg yolk they absorbed.
Now if eggs were added---some even days later----you got a staggered Hatch---which is Not a good thing to have------I never Allow that to happen---never. If it is a staggered hatch---many different things can happen. I want go into that unless you reply back saying that is what you have.

thank you for your reply. i am not sure but i am guessing that these eggs were layed over a span of 2 days maybe 3. they all seem to be in about the same stage right now so i think they will hatch the same day or the day after. I didnt know that it was a bad thing for some to hatch later. I do have a hatching machine for the remaining eggs if the hen decides to leave the nest.

 

[PD-Riverman]

thank you for your reply. i am not sure but i am guessing that these eggs were layed over a span of 2 days maybe 3. they all seem to be in about the same stage right now so i think they will hatch the same day or the day after. I didnt know that it was a bad thing for some to hatch later. I do have a hatching machine for the remaining eggs if the hen decides to leave the nest.

In most cases if a egg was added 2 days later---it will hatch 2 days later, added 3 days later, hatch 3 days later. The problem with allowing that is most hens will leave the nest after the first "batch" hatches so she can take the chicks for food(want go into broody hens that stay on the nest and ignore the hatched chicks)----the un-hatched eggs due the next day or 2 or 3 or 4 die unless you put them in your incubator, then still you can have hatching problems even after you put them in the incubator.
You might be read where I set over 150 broody hens in just 3 seasons----None of those had a staggered hatch, I did not have to grab eggs and put in a incubator, etc, etc. This is because I do not allow staggered hatches(sure if you free range you might find a setting hen on eggs you have no idea about) The way I do not have staggered hatches is I collect eggs every day from every nest even if its got a hen on it---I do Not say "well I will get them tomorrow" I get then then. If I see I got a hen going broody---I do one of two things---if I want her to set I will put a couple fake eggs under her but always collect the regular eggs until I set her. If I do not want her to set---I put her in the broody breaker cage-----no need in waiting days or allowing her to set for months---just break her and she will be back to laying in a few days usually.

To set the hen I collect every how many eggs(###) I want to put under her, mark them if she is going to be with the rest of the flock so I can remove any fresh layed eggs daily--EVERY DAY, BUT I do that until day 18----after that I Do Not bother her anymore for the last 3 days----I just leave her alone and let her hatch.

### I never use a egg I got from under her as one of the setting eggs---the reason---say if you get up the eggs at 5pm and a hen was to lay a egg in her nest a little later and she sets on that egg all night and the next day till 5 pm----if you collect that egg and put it with her setting eggs you are collecting---It will probably hatch a day earlier----that's why I do not use them---I want all mine to hatch at about the same time.

Good Luck with all your future hatches!

 

[ReneM17]

In most cases if a egg was added 2 days later---it will hatch 2 days later, added 3 days later, hatch 3 days later. The problem with allowing that is most hens will leave the nest after the first "batch" hatches so she can take the chicks for food(want go into broody hens that stay on the nest and ignore the hatched chicks)----the un-hatched eggs due the next day or 2 or 3 or 4 die unless you put them in your incubator, then still you can have hatching problems even after you put them in the incubator.
You might be read where I set over 150 broody hens in just 3 seasons----None of those had a staggered hatch, I did not have to grab eggs and put in a incubator, etc, etc. This is because I do not allow staggered hatches(sure if you free range you might find a setting hen on eggs you have no idea about) The way I do not have staggered hatches is I collect eggs every day from every nest even if its got a hen on it---I do Not say "well I will get them tomorrow" I get then then. If I see I got a hen going broody---I do one of two things---if I want her to set I will put a couple fake eggs under her but always collect the regular eggs until I set her. If I do not want her to set---I put her in the broody breaker cage-----no need in waiting days or allowing her to set for months---just break her and she will be back to laying in a few days usually.

To set the hen I collect every how many eggs(###) I want to put under her, mark them if she is going to be with the rest of the flock so I can remove any fresh layed eggs daily--EVERY DAY, BUT I do that until day 18----after that I Do Not bother her anymore for the last 3 days----I just leave her alone and let her hatch.

### I never use a egg I got from under her as one of the setting eggs---the reason---say if you get up the eggs at 5pm and a hen was to lay a egg in her nest a little later and she sets on that egg all night and the next day till 5 pm----if you collect that egg and put it with her setting eggs you are collecting---It will probably hatch a day earlier----that's why I do not use them---I want all mine to hatch at about the same time.


Good Luck with all your future hatches!

thanks for the handy tips! I did do something similar. I removed fresh layed eggs so that i wouldnt have eggs that would hatch a week later. If the hens decides to leave the remaining eggs, could I let one of the other hens sit on them till they hatch and then put them with the other chicks? I heard that you could rub it between the mothers feathers so that it would smell like her and shed accept it. also, do you have any other tips or info about laying in fresh hay or the food? should i already put medication against worms into their water? could i leave the mother and her nest with the rest of the flock or should they be sepparated? thanks again for your tips! i appreciate it alot.

 

[Kevin paddy]

Hello!

So ive had silkies for almost 2 years now. Ive had good hatches and bad hatches before. but every time i had a few chicks I would raise them sepparately from the other hens because i was scared they might get hurt by other chickens. This time however Ive decided to let the chicks hatch and stay with the hen, since I dont have any room to put them inside. I currently have 9 chickens and 8 eggs. I have 6 hens, 1 adult rooster and 2 young adult roosters. the roosters and hens get along well, though they keep their distance from eachother. One of my hens layed 8 eggs in total. but the last few days 2 other hens have decided to join her and they now are sitting on the 8 eggs together. I am afraid that they will fight over the chicks or maybe hurt them because they smell like another hen. I was planning on sepparating 2 of the hens from the rest of the flock and give 4 eggs to each hen. (the 3rd hen is still pretty young and she keeps stealing eggs to sit on them herself. after some while she tends to leave the nest often so i have given her a egg which is not furtilized.) anyway. what are your thoughts on this? should i leave the 2 hens together apart from the flock or should i just leave one hen with all 8 eggs? Any tips for having chicks outside for the first time? they do have a small gardenhouse that they live in and its safe from wind and rain. Are there any other things I should concider when leaving the chicks with their mothers? something with the food or water or putting in clean hay? could i just leave the mother and the chicks with the rest of the flock? Sorry im going all over in this post. english isnt my first language. I may include a picture in the future.

thanks in advance!

Hello
What if an egg slips out from underneath her half way through incubation and is put back after 3 days. Is the egg dead?