My Hen will be a mother in two days. *New Pics*

[GuppyLure]

My 1 year old Silkie has been incubating a batch of eggs inside a covered cat box. Is there anything I can do to be prepared for hatch day?
Will she keep her brood in the nest for a couple days? How will the chicks be able to follow her out of the cat box when they're ready to venture out? Do the babies need some sort of ramp?
I have three other adults; a bantam rooster, bantam hen and a showgirl hen. Will they know to step lightly so not to trod on a baby, or should I keep them separated from mother and chicks until the chicks are more robust? I am prepared with chick crumbles for the youngins, should their food be placed just outside the nest?

Any advice you can offer is most appreciated.

 

[Dar]

I would separate the momma to be and the eggs from the rest of the flock till the babies are a little bit bigger.. mom can eat starter feed for a while she will be fine.. Silkies are great momma's

 

[goldnchocolate]

I would give her a section of the coop that is separate from the other chickens as they may try to kill the little ones.

One of my hens hatched 3 chicks on Thursday and she is still happy to just stay with the nest. Make sure that the chicks are able to get to the food, either by building up a ramp on either side of the door opening or by adding hay, etc to the floor of the cat box to raise up the level of the nest so that they can get over it. Both times that a hen has hatched eggs at my house they hatched on the 20th day rather than the 21st day as you might expect. Good luck on you little ones. Don't forget to post picutres!!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

The hen will usually stay on the nest the whole day while the eggs are hatching and won't even get off to eat or drink. But the next day she'll get off and call the chicks out to follow her for their first outing. You can watch them as they try to get out & back in the nest box, often they're pretty adept at hopping over low barriers. Other times they show outstanding stupidity not knowing how to overcome the seemingly simplest of obstacles. Some adult birds are tolerant of chicks, others will try to hurt them. Better to play it safe & keep them separated for a few weeks or more.

 

[GuppyLure]

@Dar great to get a suggestion about keeping the mamma and babies seperated. Looks like this advice is shared by others too. I'm glad I asked before it might have been too late.

@goldnchocolate your suggestion about adding hay is great. I think I will try that. I'll build a little hill of straw on the outside out the nest box today, when should I add some to level out the inside of the nest box? After chicks have hatched?
I'll definitely share pics if all goes well.

@Sunny_Side_Up oh good, it would be ideal to have my hen stay put for a day while all the eggs hatch. It will be interesting to see how the chicks do. Good to know that a small barrier may be no problem for them.

This time around I guess I'll put a portable pen around the cat box and cover the top. In the future I'll plan to move any broody hens into my rabbit hutch at the start of incubation so I can be sure the chicks have a safe sturdy environment; Easily closed off from the rest of the flock.

 

[GuppyLure]

Well I don't know why my countdown was off so much but I finally have babies!
Mama hen, named Eggan, began incubation on April 1st. At least, that's when I stopped seeing her anywhere but on her eggs. Yesterday morning (Saturday, April 24) I went up to the nest to take the eggs away and... Whalah!!! One lone baby chick. Because he was dark as a shadow, I didn't even notice him at first. This morning, there are five ^_^. Eggan is so thrilled to have them and as predicted, refuses to leave them for even a moment.
I was surprised they all look so similar. The biological parent's are not related to Eggan. I'll post their pictures in a moment. Below are pics of Mama and then peepers. Thanks to everyone for all the advice!

Click for a bigger pic

 

[GuppyLure]

Here are the parent's of these chicks. Mom is the grey hen and dad, well he's hard to miss identify (his best buddy growing up is the showgirl hen behind him). They are all bantams.

 

[sheena6292]

First adorable chicks and congratulations. Second what a gorgeous rooster and hen. Those babies are going to be beautiful adults. Can't wait to see their progress.

 

[poultryfan73]

My BO hen is due saturday im going crazy!