Getting bantam hen with two week old chicks

[orpingtonnz]

Hi,

My Orpington pullet dreams have fallen through and instead I am now getting a mum hen and her two week old chicks (looks to be about 7 of them). The hen is a crossbreed bantam, black with a browny head, not especially fluffy, just a regular looking chicken.

Anyhow, I'm in the process of setting up the coop/run and guess I will keep the family in there until the babies are much bigger and mum hen is settled in.

I gather I'll need special feed and feeders/waterers for the babies as well as a more secure area as the chicks are more vulnerable if there are any rats or anything about.

Is there anything else I need to do?

I would also like to get the chicks as tame as possible but the info I see is mainly about taming chicks in a brooder, do I just hang out with them and be nice and give treats etc to tame them?

Any advice on what to do to set up or any direction to resources would be awesome, thank you

 

[DobieLover]

You need to set up mom and chicks in a good sized area to give mom a chance to settle in and "home" to your coop/run. She needs chick starter to eat and feed to the chicks and a chick safe waterer. I made this for broody season and it works great at keeping the water clean and the brooder dry.

Because the hen was not a member of the flock before going broody, she and her chicks will need to integrate into your flock. So I would leave them isolated in the "look don't touch" set up a bit longer than is conventional to make sure the chicks are really fast.
Once you do let them out, you will want to lock your flock away from them for an hour or two and let the little family out to explore the coop or coop/run safely. Then release the original flock and stick around to monitor and see how the broody does.
When they are released the entire flock must be on an all flock type diet (chick starter will work fine or Flock Raiser or All Flock) that offers between 18-20% protein with 0.3-0.5% calcium with oyster shells on the side for the active layers.

do I just hang out with them and be nice and give treats etc to tame them?

You will be bonding with the hen, not the chicks. The hen will feed the treats to the chicks. The chicks won't take anything from you.
Broody raised chicks only do what their mother and other flock members allow them to do. If you try to grab one of her chicks, because she really doesn't know you, you may end up with a face full of furious clawing, biting broody hen.

 

[yakitori]

broody chicks are really not the friendliest in my experience. Definitely try to get momma on your side first before trying to handle her chicks, The only time i managed to get tame-ish chicks was with a broody that trusted me 200% and spending a few hours with them indoors daily.

I got lazy with her second brood and they were always TERRIFIED of me. Lol

 

[orpingtonnz]

You need to set up mom and chicks in a good sized area to give mom a chance to settle in and "home" to your coop/run. She needs chick starter to eat and feed to the chicks and a chick safe waterer. I made this for broody season and it works great at keeping the water clean and the brooder dry.
View attachment 3416107View attachment 3416108
Because the hen was not a member of the flock before going broody, she and her chicks will need to integrate into your flock. So I would leave them isolated in the "look don't touch" set up a bit longer than is conventional to make sure the chicks are really fast.
Once you do let them out, you will want to lock your flock away from them for an hour or two and let the little family out to explore the coop or coop/run safely. Then release the original flock and stick around to monitor and see how the broody does.
When they are released the entire flock must be on an all flock type diet (chick starter will work fine or Flock Raiser or All Flock) that offers between 18-20% protein with 0.3-0.5% calcium with oyster shells on the side for the active layers.


You will be bonding with the hen, not the chicks. The hen will feed the treats to the chicks. The chicks won't take anything from you.
Broody raised chicks only do what their mother and other flock members allow them to do. If you try to grab one of her chicks, because she really doesn't know you, you may end up with a face full of furious clawing, biting broody hen.

Awesome thank you. We don't have an existing flock so these chickens will have everything to themselves.

I will try to win the hen over and hopefully that will give us a for start when the chicks.

My coop has natural light but not much direct sunlight, will that be OK or will they need direct sun?

Thank you for your advice

 

[orpingtonnz]

broody chicks are really not the friendliest in my experience. Definitely try to get momma on your side first before trying to handle her chicks, The only time i managed to get tame-ish chicks was with a broody that trusted me 200% and spending a few hours with them indoors daily.

I got lazy with her second brood and they were always TERRIFIED of me. Lol

Good to know, thank you. I'll make sure to put the time in with them.

 

[orpingtonnz]

Any idea what breed she is? Apparently she is 2 and a bantam sized crossbreed.

 

[DobieLover]

My coop has natural light but not much direct sunlight, will that be OK or will they need direct sun?

Thank you for your advice

It's best that they do have access to the ground, natural sunlight and fresh air. Seeing as she's the only one you have there's no earthly reason not to have the coop wide open for her to come and go out to the run as long as it's protected. She can handle everything from there.
You've already said she's a mixed breed so she's a mixed breed!
Do you already have your setup together? If so can you please post pictures of it? Have you actually handled this hen and seen her in person? I'd get a good look at those legs.

 

[orpingtonnz]

It's best that they do have access to the ground, natural sunlight and fresh air. Seeing as she's the only one you have there's no earthly reason not to have the coop wide open for her to come and go out to the run as long as it's protected. She can handle everything from there.
You've already said she's a mixed breed so she's a mixed breed!
Do you already have your setup together? If so can you please post pictures of it? Have you actually handled this hen and seen her in person? I'd get a good look at those legs.

I haven't seen her, she is getting rehomed as the person who has her is moving away to study. I will have to check them out, now that you mention it they do look a bit iffy.

Awesome, I'll let her and the chicks out once she has settled in to explore the garden. My main concern is neighbourhood cats but I can supervise while they are out. I thought they had to stay tucked away when they were little but didn't realise that that was more related to the rest of the flock.

The run is a work in progress, restorating a shed that seems to have once been a coop back to its former role. I did post about it in the coop section and at this point we will do a tidy up, but down some deep litter/bedding and put a roll up and down on one side for the rain as well as nest box and roost. At the moment I'm trying to empty it of the furniture which is all nailed to each other

 

[DobieLover]

Awesome, I'll let her and the chicks out once she has settled in to explore the garden.

You need to keep her locked up for at least a week in her coop and run setup to home her to it before you let her out. The very first thing I'd do with what I can see there is get some 1/2" hardware cloth secured over that fencing as a lot of predators can easily gain access through that chain link fence.

 

[orpingtonnz]

You need to keep her locked up for at least a week and her coop and run setup to home her to it before you let her out. The very first thing I'd do with what I can see there is get some 1/2" hardware cloth secured over that fencing as a lot of predators can easily gain access through that chain link fence.

Thanks for the advice, have lined with hardware cloth