Help please, When to move new mom and chicks???

[newarkrooster]

I have a Young Barred Rock hen with eggs pipping right now, she is in a nest in my main coop with 35 other hens and 2 roos, my smaller coop has not been available until tommorow morning as it has had some other roos waiting for new homes. (last one goes home tommorow) I can move mom and babies/eggs any time now my question is when?? tonight? mid hatch? after they are hatched tommorow afternoon? I am afraid of them falling out as they are in a nest about 4 foot high, also afraid of other hens killing them?

 

[birdlover]

If it were me, I'd put up some sort of barrier tonight so they can't fall out. Can you nail some hardware cloth (1/2" sq. so chicks can't fall through) or cardboard, if nothing else? Falling from the nest is a real possibility. Tomorrow, I'd move mom, babies and remaining eggs to the smaller coop asap. Can you put the last rooster in a pet carrier for the night so you can put mom and family in there first thing in the morning? Good luck. Let us know how it went. Congrats on the babies!!

 

[newarkrooster]

yes I am putting him in the carrier tonight while on the roost so I can get him. Should I move her tonight mid hatch or wait until tommorow?
I would think it is best to move when dark?

 

[birdlover]

hmmm I'm not sure; intuition tells me to wait until tomorrow morning. But if you can't put up a barrier to keep the chicks from falling out, then I'd do it tonight. Maybe someone with more experience will come along. I always situated my broody's on the floor with a chicken wire fence around them a day or two before the eggs were due to hatch so I'm just guessing really. Would hate to advise you wrong!

 

[Jster]

Just a warning, and maybe you've done it already, but we moved our broody and her hatching eggs tonight, and chicks. DH picked her out of the nest while I moved the nest itself (we'd carried the nesting box out of the coop next to our brooder coop). She must have had a chick tucked under her wing, that fell out, and I heard some chirping coming from the wrong spot but couldn't see anything, and we accidently killed one of the chicks. We're so devastated by it, and filled with so many regrets about how we handled our poor dear broody, so if you do move them at night be extra careful. Now we wish we'd waited until daylight or even better moved her before the chicks started hatching. We were keeping her with the others because she's one of our first three, who are very close, and one recently died, and the other one has been hanging out next to the broody (even joining her in the nest box just for company) because she's so lonely. But now I wish we had done it better. I told my girls that the baby chick will be taken care of by Rascal's spirit now and that Mama will be glad her chick has a good friend.

 

[silkiechicken]

My broodies have always hatched their chicks with the others... however... they were top hens where not even the rooster would look at them wrong, and only had one or two eggs. If you feel the flock will risk the lively hood of the chicks, I'd move her, or at least wall her in till the hatch is over. Once hatch is over, you can move her without risk of abandoning of chicks or stopping from setting too soon.

 

[Marlinchaser]

If you can put up a fence/ barrier to keep her and chicks in let her stay where she is till hatch is complete. After no new chicks hatching, then move her, you can put eggs in new pen she will probably continue to sit, just in case there are some late hatchers.

 

[newarkrooster]

ugh!! I have only seen her off the nest once in 21 days, and I go out there tonight to check on things at 10:30 and she is off the nest and laying in the floor??????? I put her. back on we will see what happens

 

[birdlover]

Geesh! May I call her a dumb cluck??!! Let us know the outcome of all this, PLEASE!

 

[newarkrooster]

went back out to chck and she is still on them, We will see what tommorow morning brings, it is going to get down to 25 tonight.