oops, will I have a problem?

[spunky]

We are new to this chicken thing. Our Black Sex Link Hen (we have a Rhode Island Red Rooster) went broody and is sitting on two eggs. (We didn't know she would do this and we were taking her eggs only leaving her with two by the time we caught on). We are not positive when she started incubating them but we think they'll hatch while we're out of town. She shares a coop with her rooster and three other hens (another sex link and two RIR). So far, the others are leaving her alone. Here are my questions...

1. Is it a problem that we might not be home when the chicks hatch?
2. Should we move her and her eggs now? Her nest is about 2 1/2 feet off the ground in the coop with the others. They use a ramp to get up and down. We think she's been on them for about a week.
3. Will the other chickens/rooster be a problem for her?
4. We have an electric incubator already set with 8 eggs....should we take the hen's two and put them in the incubator now?
5. Should we take her chicks from her once they've hatched?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Happy Chooks]

1. Is it a problem that we might not be home when the chicks hatch?
Probably not. How long will you be gone?
2. Should we move her and her eggs now? Her nest is about 2 1/2 feet off the ground in the coop with the others. They use a ramp to get up and down. We think she's been on them for about a week.
I'd move her at night to a nest on the ground of the coop so the babies don't fall out once they hatch.
3. Will the other chickens/rooster be a problem for her?
How high in the pecking order is your hen? Unless she's really low in the pecking order, she should be able to protect them just fine.
4. We have an electric incubator already set with 8 eggs....should we take the hen's two and put them in the incubator now?
Not if you're going to be on vacation when they hatch.
5. Should we take her chicks from her once they've hatched?
No, let her take care of them. Nothing sweeter than a momma and her chicks. Just make sure to put out food/water for the babies at their level. You could probably sneak the incubator babies under her too if they hatch at the same time.

 

[spunky]

Happy Chooks,

Thanks for you reply and suggestions. We'll only be gone for the weekend and we think they'll hatch towards the end of the weekend. We will have our neighbor check in on them. I'll go ahead and move her to the bottom of the coop as you suggested later tonight. I hope she'll stay on them.

Gosh, I have no idea how high she is on the pecking order. Really, only the rooster bosses them around as far as I can tell.

I am surprised how much we have grown to adore our chickens! I can't wait for them to hatch!

 

[Saltysteele]

i think the hen will figure it out, they were doing it for thousands of years before butted into the equation