New Member - Lori in Southern Idaho (Magic Valley) - First time chicken momma

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Welcome welcome......you will love having chickovision, that is what we watch instead of television! They are so much fun! Good luck with your soon to be flock. And yes 21 days to hatch after she starts sitting!
 
LoriC said:
@folgerrd - I'm planning on letting the hen hatch the eggs. I'm hoping I can move her into the coop before or as soon as that happens, as I want the chicks to consider the coop home. I have a feeling momma hen will run back to her own flock as soon as she is given the opportunity. So I'll keep her around for a while until I know the chicks are good to go. Who knows, maybe she will decided to stick around as well.

At this point I'm planning on purchasing feed. But I really haven't looked into the option of mixing up my own yet, so that might change.

I'm up to 9 eggs in one nest box, and apparently one of the other hens decided to start laying, as I've got another 3 eggs in a second next box. I'm going to be up to my ears in chickens!
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I don`t mean to doubt you I just suggest you consider brooding, just in case the momma hen tries to lead them back to your neighbors or just leave period. Chicks need to be kept really warm so you`ll want to have the coop or brooder(whichever you choose) ready to go by the time they`re hatched and because I don`t know what the weather is like where you are you might want to have their space heated if it is still bouncing between spring and summer weather where you are. (I hope you don`t take my comments as doubting you, I`m really not just hoping to be helpful)
 
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from washington state glad you joined us!
 
No offense taken! I'm definitely a noob, so I appreciate the advice. My intention is to keep momma "cooped up" as it were, so she can do her motherly duties. My contingency plan is to bring the chicks inside. I have some fairly large dog kennels that I think would do the trick as far as housing. I won't let her take off with them. She did that with the last batch, and I'm fairly sure none survived. We have a lot of skunks and other predators out there, so they would not stand much of a chance.
 
Maybe me using the phrase "cooped up" is giving the wrong impression. I have a couple of options for a run. One is a decent sized dog pen (the chain link kind), the other is a significantly larger goat pen that is still awaiting goats. I'll be wrapping one or the other with chicken wire, and letting the chickens spend their outside time there. So they will have an area to learn to forage for bugs and stuff during the day, and be safely in the coop at night. Chances are I will have to go with the dog pen simply due to the ability to have wire fencing over the top to keep the hawks and such out. We are supposed to be getting electricity run to the adjoining shop this weekend, so I can provide a heat lamp, etc. if the need arises.

I'll do some more poking around on the site to see what my other options will be if I can't manage to keep the hen and chicks together.
 
THE CHICKEN HAS LANDED! I REPEAT, THE CHICKEN HAS LANDED! Momma Chickie has been sitting on the nest since last night, so I think the 21 day countdown has begun. I'm so excited to see how many eggs actually hatch! Doing as much reading as I can in the meantime. Wish me luck
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