1st one hatched and dried off by the time I got off work tonight, I saw it at 6:52pm and brought it inside as the smaller grey hen jumped out of the nest to eat when I added more feed to the feeder and the chick felt cold, was peeping.
Its been sleeping all night, every time I check on it and I went outside to check for more but all's quiet, everyone sleeping so I'd best just leave them alone and check again in the morning.
I plan to move them into their own coop so the bantams can enjoy their new coop and outside time during the day while the silkie chicks and their surrogate moms share half of the biggest and just done coop safely.
I'm guessing by the third day when the chicks need feed and water, they should be in their safe coop? I say safe because the original owner of my bantam flock says his/my hens have fought over chicks and he's always had to separate them into cages with a chick apiece.
I'm new at this so any suggestions and guidance is much appreciated, I'm sure these eggs would not have hatched if I'd incubated them instead of my hens!
Thank you, Tori, you now have grandsilkies at the End of The Iditarod Trail
What do I do? Do I remove the egg shells from beneath the hen? Does she do something w/them? Do I just leave them alone until three days and then move them so they can get to water and feed? I don't think they can get out of the nest box do you? Should they have a box that they can just go in and out of that has no barrier (that is used for privacy and containing eggs)? Do I throw the feed into a chick feeder or on the floor of the coop? When I ordered chicks I used chick feeders and waterers, dipped their beaks. Does the hen show them by example?
It was easy when I pretended to be the moma but now I'm trying to allow them a real moma hen...and these ones get feisty, kicking, scratching at the floor like a bull seeing a red flag and growling when they had chicks when I first got them last summer...and those chicks were a week old, not NEWBORNS! And now the hens know me so maybe they'll be easier in our relationship? Maybe they'll share them easier w/me???
Here's where they are now:
Its been sleeping all night, every time I check on it and I went outside to check for more but all's quiet, everyone sleeping so I'd best just leave them alone and check again in the morning.
I plan to move them into their own coop so the bantams can enjoy their new coop and outside time during the day while the silkie chicks and their surrogate moms share half of the biggest and just done coop safely.
I'm guessing by the third day when the chicks need feed and water, they should be in their safe coop? I say safe because the original owner of my bantam flock says his/my hens have fought over chicks and he's always had to separate them into cages with a chick apiece.
I'm new at this so any suggestions and guidance is much appreciated, I'm sure these eggs would not have hatched if I'd incubated them instead of my hens!
Thank you, Tori, you now have grandsilkies at the End of The Iditarod Trail
What do I do? Do I remove the egg shells from beneath the hen? Does she do something w/them? Do I just leave them alone until three days and then move them so they can get to water and feed? I don't think they can get out of the nest box do you? Should they have a box that they can just go in and out of that has no barrier (that is used for privacy and containing eggs)? Do I throw the feed into a chick feeder or on the floor of the coop? When I ordered chicks I used chick feeders and waterers, dipped their beaks. Does the hen show them by example?
It was easy when I pretended to be the moma but now I'm trying to allow them a real moma hen...and these ones get feisty, kicking, scratching at the floor like a bull seeing a red flag and growling when they had chicks when I first got them last summer...and those chicks were a week old, not NEWBORNS! And now the hens know me so maybe they'll be easier in our relationship? Maybe they'll share them easier w/me???
Here's where they are now:
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One of the chicks will go to be a house pet for the lady who she and her DH gave me their banty flock. The others will stay w/me. She had a hen 17 years as a house pet and misses having one.
She's the smart hen who tucks eggs she's laid or other hens lay under her wings so when I go to collect their eggs for eating, she's holding onto secretly...not taking any chances on accidently dropping a chick so I'm not sure how many of the 9 eggs have hatched yet and what colors the chicks are.
