HELP!! Chick are hatching under hen don't know what to do next!

[BlessedbyHim]

If I moved them, I would move them to a little room in the barn where we use to keep bottle calves when it was our main calving barn. We have a brooder pen in there. It is warm and the others cannot get to them.

 

[Veer67]

She will do so and they should be safe this evening. They usually do not get out of the box much the first day or two. Some eggs may take a day or two longer, and when she leaves the nest check the remaining eggs you may have a late one. Once they all hatch then she will be easier to move.

I agree, for the time being you should keep the other chickens away from the broody hen and eggs. If they are in a trough the chicks shouldn't be able to get out.

 

[Veer67]

If I moved them, I would move them to a little room in the barn where we use to keep bottle calves when it was our main calving barn. We have a brooder pen in there. It is warm and the others cannot get to them.

That sounds good, you should move them when the chicks have all hatched.

 

[Mehjr10]

That sound like a good place.. Can her current nest be moved as a whole unit? if so then you could put that in the new location.

 

[BlessedbyHim]

That sound like a good place.. Can her current nest be moved as a whole unit? if so then you could put that in the new location.

No... unfortunately it is attached to the barn wall, but that would have been nice.

 

[BlessedbyHim]

OK…So I will leave her there for a couple of days and move her and the chicks to the brooder pen at that time. We will keep our eye out for other hens making trouble. I am sure my kids will be living out in the barn the next few days anyways!
When should I let the hen out to the flock?

 

[Mehjr10]

I usually wait until mine are a 1 -2 weeks old and are moving around well.

My last broody was a cochin and she hatched 4 and I put 7 in with her she took good care of all and would run of all invaders of her space.

Good Luck

 

[BlessedbyHim]

I usually wait until mine are a 1 -2 weeks old and are moving around well.

My last broody was a cochin and she hatched 4 and I put 7 in with her she took good care of all and would run of all invaders of her space.

Good Luck

I am worried the other hens will get to them and they will get to cold

 

[BlessedbyHim]

Thank you all for your time and suggestions!

 

[LTygress]

Get one of your other hens, and put it near mommy. Then watch what they do. Does the other hen get near her? Does she fluff up, fan her tail, and start to "coo"?

The best thing to do, is actually to let her stay there. Don't move her AT ALL. She'll protect the babies from the other chickens, and she'll keep them warm. She'll help them leave the nest when it's time, and she'll teach them to find food.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, she'll integrate them with the flock. This keeps the bigger chickens from picking on the little ones when you are ready to put them all back together. Mommy will make sure the others respect the babies and leave them alone. I've done this many times with great success.


But I ran into a problem recently with a hen who was ALREADY separated from the flock for a while, before she sat and hatched five eggs. I knew she would protect them, and her eggs were attacked once already in her second pen. So I tried to put her back in the main pen, knowing she would protect them. But now SHE was the new one in the main pen, and the others picked on HER. She got frustrated with it and left the nest a couple of times. The first time she left the nest, they were all still eggs. The second time, they were babies, and two of them were injured, one chased completely out of the pen (through the gate) and third and fourth got pretty chilly. I really don't know when I'll be able to integrate her to the main pen again.

So if she is already familiar with your other chickens, and already a part of the flock, LEAVE HER THERE. If the other chickens are leaving HER alone, then don't move her. She already has her established position in the pecking order, and she'll use that to protect the babies and tell the rest of the flock it's HER offspring. And leaving her there now, avoids problems with re-integrating them later.