First, the chicks. Before they hatch they absorb the yolk. They can live off of that yolk for 72 hours or more without eating or drinking. You do not have to put food or drink in with them.
The hen. Before she even started laying eggs she stored excess fat. I've butchered pullets, hens, cockerels, and roosters and this excess fat is extremely noticeable. This excess fat is what a broody hen mostly lives off of while broody so she can take care of the eggs instead of needing to be off of the nest looking for food and water. A hen will lose weight while broody. That does not mean she is starving to death, just using fat put there for that purpose. Your hen still has fat reserves. You do not need to feed or water her.
A broody instinctively knows to not poop in her nest. When she does come off the nest to poop you can see a huge really stinky mess. They can hold it a long time.
Isn't it amazing how Mother Nature set all of this up for a successful hatch? Just amazing!
Sometimes my broody hens bring the chicks off of the nest within 24 hours of the first one hatching. I've had some wait until into the third day. I leave those decisions up to the broody hen. She knows more about what is going on by instinct than I ever will.
My coop is different from yours. When the eggs start to hatch I put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it when the hen brings them off of the nest. The other chickens really like to eat and drink this, plus scratch bedding into them. Keeping it available is probably my biggest challenge in this process.
Typically my hens wait a couple of days to take them out of the coop, but my coop is different to yours so your milage may vary. Once she takes them out, they go out every day and stay out all day. But when it starts to get dark she takes them back to the coop. My nests are too high for the chicks to get back in them from the coop floor. No problem, the broody just squats down on the coop floor and the chicks go under them.
That ramp may present a problem for the chicks going back into the coop. They may not all be able to figure it out. You need to go down there at their bedtime to make sure all of them made it. After a few days they will figure it out but the first few nights you may need to help them.
I feed the entire flock the same feed. Even if your hen feeders are up, the broody hen might move feed from it to where the chicks can get it. By the time my chicks are two weeks old they are flying up to the hens' feeder to feed themselves. I switch to a low calcium feed for all of them and offer oyster shell on the side for the ones that need the calcium for eggshells.
Can something go wrong? You are dealing with living animals, of course it is possible something could go wrong. But broody hens have been managing this for thousands of years and they have not gone extinct yet. With us limiting the broody hens by housing them in coops we designed we might make it a bit more difficult on them so do pay attention. But kind of trust your broody. She wants this to work also.
The hen. Before she even started laying eggs she stored excess fat. I've butchered pullets, hens, cockerels, and roosters and this excess fat is extremely noticeable. This excess fat is what a broody hen mostly lives off of while broody so she can take care of the eggs instead of needing to be off of the nest looking for food and water. A hen will lose weight while broody. That does not mean she is starving to death, just using fat put there for that purpose. Your hen still has fat reserves. You do not need to feed or water her.
A broody instinctively knows to not poop in her nest. When she does come off the nest to poop you can see a huge really stinky mess. They can hold it a long time.
Isn't it amazing how Mother Nature set all of this up for a successful hatch? Just amazing!
Sometimes my broody hens bring the chicks off of the nest within 24 hours of the first one hatching. I've had some wait until into the third day. I leave those decisions up to the broody hen. She knows more about what is going on by instinct than I ever will.
My coop is different from yours. When the eggs start to hatch I put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it when the hen brings them off of the nest. The other chickens really like to eat and drink this, plus scratch bedding into them. Keeping it available is probably my biggest challenge in this process.
Typically my hens wait a couple of days to take them out of the coop, but my coop is different to yours so your milage may vary. Once she takes them out, they go out every day and stay out all day. But when it starts to get dark she takes them back to the coop. My nests are too high for the chicks to get back in them from the coop floor. No problem, the broody just squats down on the coop floor and the chicks go under them.
That ramp may present a problem for the chicks going back into the coop. They may not all be able to figure it out. You need to go down there at their bedtime to make sure all of them made it. After a few days they will figure it out but the first few nights you may need to help them.
I feed the entire flock the same feed. Even if your hen feeders are up, the broody hen might move feed from it to where the chicks can get it. By the time my chicks are two weeks old they are flying up to the hens' feeder to feed themselves. I switch to a low calcium feed for all of them and offer oyster shell on the side for the ones that need the calcium for eggshells.
Can something go wrong? You are dealing with living animals, of course it is possible something could go wrong. But broody hens have been managing this for thousands of years and they have not gone extinct yet. With us limiting the broody hens by housing them in coops we designed we might make it a bit more difficult on them so do pay attention. But kind of trust your broody. She wants this to work also.
