hey. today when I went to check on my broody hen I heard a little peeping noise. it turns out at least one of her chicks hatched! this is the first time this happened ever since I had chickens. should I leave her to sit on the baby chick? (I still didn't see it yet.) the hen isn't suffocating the chick is she? since it is the first day of 2015 and its cold outside and the chick needs to be warm but I want to make sure he/she isn't getting suffocated or anything else bad. the hen and the future chicks to come (hopefully) have their own coop away from the other chickens and a heat lamp. do you have any tips or ideas for the hen and baby chicken? thankyou in advance.
new year chicks!
- Thread starter Ocegra
- Start date
Hello,
We oftentimes forget that chicks were raised by hens long before the advent of heating lamps. For all intensive purposes I would leave your hen alone for the time being. If you agitate her now you risk her leaving the nest the losing the eggs. I would, however, monitor her closely and wait for all the eggs to hatch. Once these have hatched you can then transport them to a warmer location with their mother.
Overall, I would try to keep a minimalistic approach when dealing with this topic. In my opinion, chicks who are introduced to cold conditions early in life adapt better when older...
Hope this helps...
We oftentimes forget that chicks were raised by hens long before the advent of heating lamps. For all intensive purposes I would leave your hen alone for the time being. If you agitate her now you risk her leaving the nest the losing the eggs. I would, however, monitor her closely and wait for all the eggs to hatch. Once these have hatched you can then transport them to a warmer location with their mother.
Overall, I would try to keep a minimalistic approach when dealing with this topic. In my opinion, chicks who are introduced to cold conditions early in life adapt better when older...
Hope this helps...
- Dec 17, 2011
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Your broody hen will definitely not smother her chick! The chicks burrow up under the mama's fluff to keep warm, even in warmer weather. Leave well enough alone, as the poster above suggested, and mama will do the rest. Resist the urge to lift up mama and peek for now. Nature knows that to do.
You can help by making sure they have fresh water once a day and chick starter crumble that is accessible to newly-hatched chicks. Mama will try to sit until all eggs are hatched. If everything isn't hatched within 2 days you may need to remove the unhatched eggs to encourage mama to get up and start taking care of her chicks. I had one broody this summer who hatched one chick a full day earlier than the other…I put a few handfuls of chick crumble right in front where she could reach it and she showed it to her chick. I also put the water in her reach, which she seemed grateful for.
Good luck, try to leave them alone as much as possible, and let us know how they are doing.
You can help by making sure they have fresh water once a day and chick starter crumble that is accessible to newly-hatched chicks. Mama will try to sit until all eggs are hatched. If everything isn't hatched within 2 days you may need to remove the unhatched eggs to encourage mama to get up and start taking care of her chicks. I had one broody this summer who hatched one chick a full day earlier than the other…I put a few handfuls of chick crumble right in front where she could reach it and she showed it to her chick. I also put the water in her reach, which she seemed grateful for.
Good luck, try to leave them alone as much as possible, and let us know how they are doing.
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