First time with Chicken raising baby...

[JaceAgain]

Can I get a 101 on how to set up and what to expect/ what I need with this? My silkie was broody and hatched 1 egg today, and she seems to be a good mama so far. She's in a large coop with 3 other chickens and is the alpha chicken. The coop floor is dirt and a little straw. I was thinking a rubermaidd with some straw, or should I line ii with a washable blanket or paperr towels or something? would tthe little chick be ok in that? And how do I feed it chick food if shes in with the layers?

 

[gritsar]

My personal preference is to leave any chicks hatched in the flock with the flock IF they are not in danger from any aggressive members of the flock or from chick eating predators.
You will need to offer a chick sized waterer and chick crumbles. I don't use medicated crumbles when allowing a broody to raise chicks in the flock, as it has been my experience that they will get the same immunity to cocci from being exposed to the adults droppings (whom presumably already have the immunity) as they would from eating medicated chick starter. I do it this way based on something I read years ago, so don't have a link to offer explaining why this is a valid option, sorry. You will also need to relocate any adult sized waterers (especially with small chicks like silkies) to minimize the danger of the chick(s) drowning in a full sized waterer.

I don't use straw, so can't really address that. I have many adult birds that are still in the same flocks they hatched into.

 

[JaceAgain]

Thank you!