Got a hatch, maybe 2 more soon... now what?

[azpenguin]

We slipped an egg under our broody silkie three weeks ago. Over the next few days, my wife slipped two more. Well, today, one hatched. Chick seems to be doing fine and it's hanging out with mom in the nest box. The other two, if they hatch, won't be far behind.

Here's the setup - the nest box is on the side of the coop. Due to me thinking about eggs and not chicks, it's about a foot above the coop floor. There are six other chickens that live in this coop. Three of them are roosters (long story how we ended up there... let's just say the pullet bin at the feed store that week musta got mixed up with the roo bin.) My worries are as follows - one is that the other birds may try to attack the chicks, another is that the chicks may fall out of the nest box.

So, what should I do? I have a fairly sizable brooder box set up and ready to go. It's more than big enough for mom, chick, and eggs. (It's 2'x4'x2'.) Options are as follows: A ) Leave as is. B ) Partition off that side of the nest box (doesn't solve the chick falling problem and would take a while) C ) Bring chick into brooder D) Bring mom, chick, and eggs into brooder.

Oh, and here's what we found earlier:

Thanks!

 

[SteveBaz]

Yes use the box you have. Call an appliance store for a huge box to come and get if you ask nice. Set it up for all the babies.

 

[Chris Herzog]

If you decide to keep the birds in the nesting box and you partition them off from the other birds or even if you don’t…just add a bunch of shaving around the nesting box to bring the floor up to their level.

Good luck,
Chris