I didn't prepare as much as I should have, but my broody hen is hatching chicks

[Melontine]

So I'm pretty sure she'll handle most to the chick care for me. But this is the first time raising with a broody hen and I do have some questions and concerns.
If a coop is too high up, will chicks hurt themselves trying to climb in and out of it? If the chicks can't get back up, will the mom hen stay with them? How close should I be watching her and the chicks during the first few days?

My birds are currently divided up weirdly. This is due to several things such as; two broodies choosing to make their nests in two different coops, this year's batch of chicks being moved outside but still separate from the main flock until they're bigger, and a recent raccoon attack causing us to limit our bird's range.

In the main coop, we have our broody hen who's chicks will be hatching today or tomorrow as well as three other hens. The main coop is about three feet off the ground with a solid/smooth wood plank being used for a ramp. Broody hen has been on her nest in this coop for the past three weeks. The other three hens sleep in the coop during cold nights and on the roof in warmer nights. It's all inside a larger enclosure that should keep everyone safe from predators.

I'm... thinking this coop would be too difficult a climb for uncoordinated new hatchlings. So I prepared an area under the coop, a large clean cat litter pan filled with wood shavings. This would give the hen and her chicks a clean area that should be safe from the wind/rain without the steep climb back into the main coop. But I don't know how I'll be able to convince mother hen to use it for their nest.
My current plan is to go out either tonight or tomorrow night and move hen, the chicks, and any still viable eggs into the litter pan. I want to do it before she gets up to take the chicks to eat so they won't fall but I don't want to go too early that I'll mess up the hatching process. But then again I'll have to get the non-viable eggs away from her sometime.

I already switched out feeds, everyone in this part of our chicken village is on a non-medicated chick starter/grower with a side of oyster shells. I might put a smaller dish of chick feed and water in the litter pan nest but I'm not sure yet.

So far no chicks have hatched, but I figured this would be the better forum for the types of questions I want to ask and fully expect to hear some chirping soon.
What else should I be doing to help my broody hens with their new babies?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You want to separate the chicks and momma from other birds, especially if they aren't free ranged 24 7. They often can't get in and out of neat boxes for a few days and I'd they get stuck out, then momma will usually stay with the majority and just leave the one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I personally prefer my hens to raise the chicks with the flock so I'll try to address your questions.

I've seen a broody hen get her chicks down from a 10 feet high hay loft. She said jump and they did, then ran to her. My hens regularly hatch in nests 4 feet off the coop floor. They've never had an issue getting the chicks safely down. Don't worry about them falling and hurting themselves.

I'm glad you mentioned it is an elevate coop with a ramp. My coop is at ground level. I don't know how steep that ramp is. The chicks can physically climb the ramp if it is not too steep. You can sometimes help that by putting some kind of cleats or treads on it or maybe some grippable surface, rubber maybe. A good target for steepness of a ramp is around 30 to 35 degrees. If the coop is 3 feet off the ground the bottom of the ramp should be at least 4 feet horizontally away from it. One way to flatten a ramp is to put a block under the low end. The chicks can jump up a few inches without trouble if they want to. If Mama tells them to, they want to. Wouldn't it be nice to have kids like that?

Just because they can physically use it doesn't mean they will. Something I've seen in situations like that is that the hen goes up to the top of the ramp and tells the chicks to follow her. The chicks gather under the high part of the ramp and stay down there. They do not know to go to the foot of the ramp to go up. The hen does not know to go to the foot of the ramp to lead them up. The hen and chicks all get quite aggravated and frustrated.

My broody hens do not try to take their chicks back to the nest they were hatched in, the nests are typically too high up anyway. They take them to a spot on the coop floor, often a corner. Your hen will likely want to take her chicks back in the coop but if some don't make it she will probably hop back down to take care of them at night. I've seen that happen. I can't guarantee that will happen, with living animals and behaviors I don't give guarantees. No matter how you resolve this you need to be around at dark to make sure things work out safely for a few days, until you are comfortable they can work it out.

Wherever that hen spends the night it needs to be somewhere predator safe. I don't know how predator safe you consider that area under the coop or under the ramp. It also needs to stay dry if you get a heavy rain and the ground floods.

Something I have done when my coop gets really crowded is to move the broody and her chicks to a predator proof shelter in the run for two or three days and nights after she brings them off the nest. If you leave them locked in there for a couple of nights she should return them there at dark. I lock them in at night and let them out to roam with the flock during the day after she has imprinted that the shelter is a safe place to spend the night.

A couple of warnings. If you try to isolate the hen and her chicks make sure the chicks cannot escape and leave the protection of the broody hen. My broody hens protect the chicks from the other hens. It's usually not that big of an issue anyway but it can be. If the chicks are out where the broody cannot protect them they are vulnerable. And sometimes they can't figure out how to get back in once they get out. Let's not discuss how I know.

If you pick up the broody hen be careful. The chicks sometimes crawl up under her feathers, wings especially. I crushed and killed a chick one time by picking the broody hen up by grabbing her around the wings. If I need to I still pick broody hens up, but I'm pretty careful when I do. No sudden grabs.

I don't know if I've answered all your questions or not. If you have more, just ask.

 

[Melontine]

I personally prefer my hens to raise the chicks with the flock so I'll try to address your questions.

I've seen a broody hen get her chicks down from a 10 feet high hay loft. She said jump and they did, then ran to her. My hens regularly hatch in nests 4 feet off the coop floor. They've never had an issue getting the chicks safely down. Don't worry about them falling and hurting themselves.

I'm glad you mentioned it is an elevate coop with a ramp. My coop is at ground level. I don't know how steep that ramp is. The chicks can physically climb the ramp if it is not too steep. You can sometimes help that by putting some kind of cleats or treads on it or maybe some grippable surface, rubber maybe. A good target for steepness of a ramp is around 30 to 35 degrees. If the coop is 3 feet off the ground the bottom of the ramp should be at least 4 feet horizontally away from it. One way to flatten a ramp is to put a block under the low end. The chicks can jump up a few inches without trouble if they want to. If Mama tells them to, they want to. Wouldn't it be nice to have kids like that?

Just because they can physically use it doesn't mean they will. Something I've seen in situations like that is that the hen goes up to the top of the ramp and tells the chicks to follow her. The chicks gather under the high part of the ramp and stay down there. They do not know to go to the foot of the ramp to go up. The hen does not know to go to the foot of the ramp to lead them up. The hen and chicks all get quite aggravated and frustrated.

My broody hens do not try to take their chicks back to the nest they were hatched in, the nests are typically too high up anyway. They take them to a spot on the coop floor, often a corner. Your hen will likely want to take her chicks back in the coop but if some don't make it she will probably hop back down to take care of them at night. I've seen that happen. I can't guarantee that will happen, with living animals and behaviors I don't give guarantees. No matter how you resolve this you need to be around at dark to make sure things work out safely for a few days, until you are comfortable they can work it out.

Wherever that hen spends the night it needs to be somewhere predator safe. I don't know how predator safe you consider that area under the coop or under the ramp. It also needs to stay dry if you get a heavy rain and the ground floods.

Something I have done when my coop gets really crowded is to move the broody and her chicks to a predator proof shelter in the run for two or three days and nights after she brings them off the nest. If you leave them locked in there for a couple of nights she should return them there at dark. I lock them in at night and let them out to roam with the flock during the day after she has imprinted that the shelter is a safe place to spend the night.

A couple of warnings. If you try to isolate the hen and her chicks make sure the chicks cannot escape and leave the protection of the broody hen. My broody hens protect the chicks from the other hens. It's usually not that big of an issue anyway but it can be. If the chicks are out where the broody cannot protect them they are vulnerable. And sometimes they can't figure out how to get back in once they get out. Let's not discuss how I know.

If you pick up the broody hen be careful. The chicks sometimes crawl up under her feathers, wings especially. I crushed and killed a chick one time by picking the broody hen up by grabbing her around the wings. If I need to I still pick broody hens up, but I'm pretty careful when I do. No sudden grabs.

I don't know if I've answered all your questions or not. If you have more, just ask.

Thank you! That helps a lot.
I'll probably spend a lot of time out there with them the first couple of days to see what works but from the sound of it, they'll likely be able to figure things out a lot of what I was worried about themselves. I'll see about the things you suggested and figure out what'll work best for them.

I know we've got at least 1 chick now. Poor baby was getting cold, they fell out of the nesting box and away from mom and couldn't figure out how to get back up. I put the chick back up and the hen seems to be happy with her chick. She's still working on hatching the rest.
Funny enough, now the three hens she's rooming with are walking around with their feathers all ruffled and trying to make themselves comfy sitting in the nesting boxes.