holes in the shell. Now what.

[burntmuch]

Long story short. 21 days ago I had to get rid of our rooster. It was getting a bit aggressive with my 4 y/o son. My kids were upset. So I let them put a couple eggs under one of our hens, Who was acting like she was broody. Well it worked, I ve got 2 eggs that are getting ready to be chicks. So do I seperate this hen & these eggs from the coop. Or do I leave her with the rest of the flock, all hens. This is the first time Ive had a broody hen. & the first time Ive attemted to hatch eggs. So I dont know what to do here.

 

[CSisley]

It kind of depends on the hen and where she stands in the flock. She may be able to fend the others off just fine but you may need to separate her if it looks like she's in over her head. In my experience mother hens will risk their lives to defend their babies. The others may get the message and back off without argument if they aren't particularly aggressive but if they gang up on her you may need to step in and separate them. Keep in mind it doesn't take much to kill or seriously injure a newborn chick.

 

[KandiandJerry]

We were also faced with this decision last week and decided to separate ......

 

[burntmuch]

OK Last night I seperated the flock. I put the hen & eggs in a brooder box in the garage. This morning we found 2 chicks alive & well. I picked one up to check it out. Momma hen didnt seem too happy about that. So I put it back down. momma tucked the chick back underneath her wing. So it looks like she knows what shes supposed to be doing. Kinda neat. My kids were pretty excited.