How long can chick go?

[Newchickadee30]

Hello,
So I know chicks can survive in an incubator for up to 3 days without foods or water, but silly question...can a chick hatched under a broody hen go that long too?
Reason I am asking is I have 2 broody hens that I moved them to a smaller coop once I realized they were broody and gave them some eggs. They are in day 13 right now.
I placed them in some old wooden crates I had and they seem happy to be nesting in them. They are deep crates though and a chick would be unable to get out.
I want to avoid moving eggs or bothering mama as much as I can so it it ok to completely leave chicks in the crate with mama for about 48-72 hours after day 21 or when I first hear cheep sounds? The hens can easier get in and out of course.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Chicks survive on the absorbed yoke, so yes, they absolutely can, and its fairly common for mom to sit on the nest with the first few chicks while waiting on any late hatchers for a day or so before leading the babies off to find their first meal. Maybe if you wait for the ladies to get off the nest at feeding time and turn the crates on their side with an added cardboard (or other available material) lip to keep the eggs in in the nests it might make it easier? That doesn't seem like much more of a disturbance than candling, but I thought I'd just make the suggestion.

Eta: why are you wanting to leave them stuck in the nest for that long? Part of the broody process is supposed to be leaving the decision up to mom when she thinks its the right time to bring them out, isn't it?

 

[Newchickadee30]

Chicks survive on the absorbed yoke, so yes, they absolutely can, and its fairly common for mom to sit on the nest with the first few chicks while waiting on any late hatchers for a day or so before leading the babies off to find their first meal. Maybe if you wait for the ladies to get off the nest at feeding time and turn the crates on their side with an added cardboard (or other available material) lip to keep the eggs in in the nests it might make it easier? That doesn't seem like much more of a disturbance than candling, but I thought I'd just make the suggestion.

Eta: why are you wanting to leave them stuck in the nest for that long? Part of the broody process is supposed to be leaving the decision up to mom when she thinks its the right time to bring them out, isn't it?

Only reason I would leave them in the nesting crate that long would be if the hen still had some eggs that were pipped. After day 18 I don’t like to move or touch the eggs at all.
What made me ask is I just had one broody hen hatch 2 chicks on day 21, 2 on day 22 and two more on day 23. I’ve never had that big of a span before. For the chicks that hatched on day 21 I wanted to make sure they were ok to still be in there with no food or water until all the chicks had hatched before I moved them to a box where they could get out to eat and drink with mom.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Only reason I would leave them in the nesting crate that long would be if the hen still had some eggs that were pipped. After day 18 I don’t like to move or touch the eggs at all.
What made me ask is I just had one broody hen hatch 2 chicks on day 21, 2 on day 22 and two more on day 23. I’ve never had that big of a span before. For the chicks that hatched on day 21 I wanted to make sure they were ok to still be in there with no food or water until all the chicks had hatched before I moved them to a box where they could get out to eat and drink with mom.

Fair enough. It's fairly common for a hatch to be a bit staggered, but my only worry would be that mom might decide to stop sitting before all the eggs are hatched and end up leaving the chicks that did behind on the nest if she can't get them to follow her once she decides she needs to feed herself. Hens quite often put the good of her stronger chicks above the possibility of hatching the remaining eggs. A distressed broody can be a possible source of injury if she's hopping in and out of the nest trying to get the chicks to follow, not out of maliciousness, just panic.
Day 13 is a long way from day 18, personally I'd flip the nest, but that's just me. My broody experience is limited and I'm working with theoretics alone, but I do know from that limited experience is that broodies can be unmindful of the chicks they may be trampling when upset.

 

[Mewcycle]

I just had a broody hatch 1 egg on day 20, 4 on day 21 and another one on day 22. She did not leave the nest, i put food & water in front of her and she fed her first babies while sitting on eggs. When all were hatched, she stood and walked around. I had her in a dog crate separate from the flock but with the crate door open. She could leave if she wanted...but she didn’t. I did have to clean up a daily poop due to the eating . But it wasn’t hard to scoop it up with some hay. This setup worked well for my broody.