Need advice from experts

[black_cat]

I dont think a single hybrid has lived except for maybe an Americana Hybrid to be honest

Oh no! Is that because she's hatching them herself?

 

[CluckerFamily]

I use 5 gallon pails for my nesting boxes but I also had an old ladder so... I put a 5 gallon pail through each rung on the ladder and leaned it against a wall of the coop. I did connect a simple brace to the wall to make sure it doesn't fall.

 

[Ruthster55]

Sounds like incubator problems on your mom’s end if broody hens aren’t raising them.

Are there weak or spraddle-leg chicks? Sounds like an incubator mgmt problem.

Hens are the best mothers, but possums or snakes can still eat the eggs.

I dont think a single hybrid has lived except for maybe an Americana Hybrid to be honest

 

[streetriley]

Oh no! Is that because she's hatching them herself?

She's letting the hens hatch them, then takes them inside for 2-3 weeks and puts them outside way too early with the adults.

 

[streetriley]

I use 5 gallon pails for my nesting boxes but I also had an old ladder so... I put a 5 gallon pail through each rung on the ladder and leaned it against a wall of the coop. I did connect a simple brace to the wall to make sure it doesn't fall.

Very cool design

 

[black_cat]

She's letting the hens hatch them, then takes them inside for 2-3 weeks and puts them outside way too early with the adults.

If she's letting the hens hatch them, it would probably be simpler for her to just let the hens raise them. They are good mothers and then the chicks don't have to be re integrated into the flock.

 

[streetriley]

Sounds like incubator problems on your mom’s end if broody hens aren’t raising them.

Are there weak or spraddle-leg chicks? Sounds like an incubator mgmt problem.

Hens are the best mothers, but possums or snakes can still eat the eggs.

Weak mostly. She didn't feed the hens enough protein is what I'm assuming.

 

[streetriley]

If she's letting the hens hatch them, it would probably be simpler for her to just let the hens raise them. They are good mothers and then the chicks don't have to be re integrated into the flock.

I like that idea. She usually brings them inside under a light etc...i will pass that advice along.

 

[Ruthster55]

She's letting the hens hatch them, then takes them inside for 2-3 weeks and puts them outside way too early with the adults.

She needs to put the broody hen in with the chicks in a safe place to let the broody hen raise the chicks for several weeks at LEAST until the babies are fully-feathered. They only need chick starter and water that way.

Broody hens with chicks can be raised in cages or pens or small coops outside. No need for indoors.

Should not separate the babies from their mother. The broody hen will keep the chicks warm.

If you let the chicks go in the yard too early in bad and wet weather, the chicks can be lost.

The problem is that she is separating the chicks from their mother(s) too soon.

 

[black_cat]

I like that idea. She usually brings them inside under a light etc...i will pass that advice along.

No need for a brooder when you have a broody! The hens do all the work for you: they keep the chicks warm with their feathers, they teach the chicks where the food and water are and how to drink from them, they care for the chicks and mitigate squabbles, and they protect the chicks! Chicks do need to be kept separate for the first few weeks, but that can be accomplished with a dog crate in the coop and a nesting box in there with their food and water.