Hen hatched her egg, What now?

[ckkevin]

My Daughter's hen has been sitting on an egg and it hatched. Should we bring the chick inside and put her in a small brooder or just let the mom do her thing.

If I leave the chick with the mom, what will it eat? I have some chick starter that I am feeding some two month olds but we are feeding the other chickens in the pen hen layer.

 

[RendonRoo]

Mom will do fine. She will take the chick for food and water. If you want it to be more tame if you hand raise it. Good Luck

 

[swedishfish]

Last year I had three of my hens go broody, and I just let them take care of their babies because:

1. Hens are better at being moms than me.
2. I don't have to worry about keeping them warm with a light.
3. I have an adorable momma hen

4. This way I don't have to introduce them to the flock with as much worries because they'll be right next to eachother and be able to see eachother!

So, just feed the chick "chick starter" and get some tiny mason jar waterers. Make sure that your coop and run are chick safe (no big holes for predators or chicks to squeeze through) of course I don't think they'll be out in the run roaming around for a little while...and let the momma do her stuff unless you see that she's not taking care of the chick or that she's hurting it in any way.

One downside to letting the momma take care of the chick is that I have no super social chicken who likes to come and see me. They all stay on the opposite side of the coop when they see me coming unless they think I have a treat. If I have a treat some will come closer and some will only eat after I leave.

 

[ctychix]

I don't have a rooster, however I just ordered hatchery chicks and I like to use my broody hens, it is so much easier, and perfect, besides being the cutest thing ever.

 

[ckkevin]

Thanks for the info. I think we will just let the mom do her thing. I will put some chick starter in a chick feeder and put it next to their favorite siting area. It is pretty cute watching the little chick follow her mom. My daughters are very excited.

 

[swedishfish]

Yay! Glad everything is going well. I am so excited for you! And for me...my hen should be hatching her eggs in a week!

 

[Chickafoog]

Well, you can let the mama hen do her natural little thing (that is no prob because the mama will lead the baby to the food and water). We separate our broody hens and babies away from the other chickens. It is fun to watch a hen raise a brood! Or, you can set up a wooden brooder in your house with a heat lamp and food and water in it. You will want to lay out paper towels in the brooder daily to keep all the poo from filling the brooder up to much, and try to regulate the tempature in the brooder too. 98 degrees the first week and lower it a few degrees each week for 6 weeks. Feed your chicks chick starter (or that would be the best anyway) and sprinkle a little bit of grit on top of it. Don't use to much grit though! Anyways.....hope this helped!!! And Oh ya, good luck with those chicks!