Newborn question

[T-traveler]

We've had chickens for about 3 years now and this is a first. What to do?

We have a flock of 30 hens (primarily for eggs) and 2 roosters. One of our hens went broody about a month ago and we thought it would be fun to hatch our own chicks. Several weeks ago we realized that she was sitting on 10 eggs. Last night one of them hatched. We've raised purchased chicks in a brooder several times before, but never one hatched in our flock. The chick and the other eggs are still under the hen in one of the nesting boxes. What do we need to do? (This is so exciting!)

Should we remove the chicks as they are hatched and put them in the brooder, or should we leave them where they are? If we leave them, how will they get food and water?

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are just so many different ways you can do this. A few remove the chicks and brood them themselves but very few. Most of us let the hen's raise them as they have been doing for thousands of years.

Some people isolate the hen and chicks from the flock for their own reasons. I don't. I put food and water on the coop floor where the chicks can get to it and leave the broody hen alone to do as she wishes. The other chickens will probably eat that, they just have no manners. They will also scratch bedding into it. I can't do anything about the others eating the food but I put a large piece of plywood on the floor on top of the bedding to reduce them scratching trash in it, especially the water.

The chicks can survive three full days or more before they need to eat or drink. Before they hatch they absorb the yolk and live off of that, that's why they can be mailed. The hen will know when the hatch is over and will bring the chicks off of the nest when it is time. What she does after that will be up to her. Part of that may depend on what your set-up looks like. Mine tend to spend a couple of days on the coop floor before taking them outside. After that they spend practically all day every day outside and return to the coop at night to sleep on the coop floor.

Some people like to get really involved with their broody hens raising chicks. I don't, I provide food and clean water (clean water is very important) and try to stay out of the hen's way. To a huge extent there is no right way or wrong way to do this, many different ways work.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

I don't have a coop, my chickens roost in the barn and wherever they like at night. I have a couple of homemade chicken tractors that I put new broodies in with their chicks and food and water. That have shelter in the tractor as well. Works for my setup.

 

[azygous]

If it's your first time doing something, it helps to hear from others how they've done it, then adapt whatever useful stuff you think might fit your situation.

There's a good chance your broody is sitting on some eggs that were laid in the nest much later than the first ones. In that case, you're looking at eggs that might be likely to hatch over several days instead of all in one day. This complicates things and requires a decision as broodies are usually intent on sitting on the nest until there are no more unhatched eggs.

I'm facing this exact situation at present. I gave my broody five eggs to sit on 22 days ago. Three days in, two broke, so I replaced them with two more. On day 20, two chicks hatched, but my broody is still intensely focused on sitting on the unhatched eggs, which may not hatch until tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the two chicks are approaching the point where they need her care. I've rigged food and water so the broody can easily access them without leaving the nest. This has enabled her to teach the two chicks to eat and drink.

Without this intervention, she would be neglecting the two chicks except for providing them warmth. What I plan to do is remove any unhatched eggs in two more days so my broody can move on to caring for the chicks that have hatched.

As for brooding the chicks that your broody has hatched, that's your call. But know that most broodies provide a much superior brooding experience for their chicks than any you can provide. There's a deep satisfaction in watching a broody raise her chicks and teach them all they need to know about being chickens, stuff that's hard for a human to do.

 

[azygous]

An update on my previous post from yesterday:

I heard some cussing and swearing coming from my broody Linda and I rushed in to see what the commotion was all about. She appeared to be cursing the unhatched eggs and was coming off the nest, her two chicks wondering what the uproar was all about.

I gave her some carrots and meal worms and she shared with the chicks, then she made a mad dash for the exit. She wanted the chicks to follow so I had to intervene and carry them out since they didn't have a clue, their world until now consisting of a nest of pine shavings and brief excursions onto the sandy floor of the coop.

She’s finished sitting on the eggs, and she is now outside with the chicks where she will spend each day from now on.

The eggs are inside in a basket under a heating pad for the next 24 hours just in case Linda jumped the gun in abandoning them. But her hormones are probably shifting telling her the chicks are a better investment of her time.

Your options include incubating the eggs yourself that haven't hatched or just letting nature take its course. Next time, I will remind myself what a bad idea it is to add more eggs after a broody has begun to sit.