Options for Broody Hen Raising Chicks in Coop

[NatJ]

Because they need to use up their layer feed so I can change to all flock. And because I don't have a ton of chick food at the moment.

In that case, maybe you can make a chicks-only feeding setup. Maybe put the feeder inside something like a wire cage that chicks can enter but big chickens cannot. 2" openings are probably big enough for just-hatched chicks, but you would need bigger openings as they grow. If the chicks are with the broody, and she cannot reach the food, that might not work very well.

Or if you separate the chicks (brooder, or cage with broody), that would solve the feed problem too.

Another option is to give everyone chick starter or all flock now, but use the layer feed to make a mash each day (feed + water) and offer it to the layers. They will probably gobble it up so fast the chicks don't get a chance to have any, so the chicks will not get the extra calcium but the layers will be gradually using up the layer feed.

So I put the chicks in with River last night. She seemed pretty aware of it all but she happily tucked them under her wings and she is scratching around the coop today with them all. It's so sweet!

Great!

For now, they are hanging out in the coop with food and water. I keep going back and forth on whether I should move them. I feel like she might be keeping the other chooks from laying their eggs so if I notice a drop in egg production I'll move her.

That makes sense, watching to see how it goes, with a backup plan if needed.

I would expect the other hens to lay anyway, but maybe not in the usual place. You could put a temporary nest in the run, if you want to give them an alternative spot that is easy for you to find. Even a cardboard box can work for a bit (until it gets rained on, or until the chickens shred it.)

I ended up cracking the eggs. Three of them busted open rotten. One of them just looked normal with a yolk, so not sure what that all means. Maybe it was too hot for them?

It could have been too hot, or maybe they were not fertile in the first place, or maybe they were mis-handled before you go them (too hot, too cold, too old, shaken too much, or something of the sort.)

The one that just looked normal would be an egg that did not develop at all. For the rotten ones, they might have started development and then quit, or they might not have developed at all. More than a certain amount of rotting will make it impossible to tell.

But now you know what was inside, which shows that no amount of extra time would make them hatch, and may shed a little light on what you saw when you candled.

 

[tori729]

In that case, maybe you can make a chicks-only feeding setup. Maybe put the feeder inside something like a wire cage that chicks can enter but big chickens cannot. 2" openings are probably big enough for just-hatched chicks, but you would need bigger openings as they grow. If the chicks are with the broody, and she cannot reach the food, that might not work very well.

Or if you separate the chicks (brooder, or cage with broody), that would solve the feed problem too.

Another option is to give everyone chick starter or all flock now, but use the layer feed to make a mash each day (feed + water) and offer it to the layers. They will probably gobble it up so fast the chicks don't get a chance to have any, so the chicks will not get the extra calcium but the layers will be gradually using up the layer feed.

Good ideas! Yeah the mama isn't leaving the coop right now so she will need to eat too. I've just been leaving the feeder in the coop and offering it every so often, trying to shoo the other hens away. Good idea with the mash! I might do that soon. There's about half of a 5 gallon bucket left of layer feed. River hasn't brought the chicks out of the coop yet (ladder is high and I don't think they can quite navigate it yet) so I dont have to worry yet.

I would expect the other hens to lay anyway, but maybe not in the usual place. You could put a temporary nest in the run, if you want to give them an alternative spot that is easy for you to find. Even a cardboard box can work for a bit (until it gets rained on, or until the chickens shred it.)

Great idea to put a temp nest in the run, that might be easier than moving mom and babies elsewhere. I feel like I've been neglecting the rest of the flock, I've been so obsessed with the babies!

It could have been too hot, or maybe they were not fertile in the first place, or maybe they were mis-handled before you go them (too hot, too cold, too old, shaken too much, or something of the sort.)

The one that just looked normal would be an egg that did not develop at all. For the rotten ones, they might have started development and then quit, or they might not have developed at all. More than a certain amount of rotting will make it impossible to tell.

But now you know what was inside, which shows that no amount of extra time would make them hatch, and may shed a little light on what you saw when you candled.

Yeah the rotten ones were super gross, all greenish inside, *puke.* I had to change my clothes afterward because I smelled.

I candled them when I brought them inside last night and I noticed one of them looked just like a normal fresh egg and the others were darker, some of them looked like they had space on one end but I know that can mean they were rotten. So the normal one makes a lot of sense now. Well, it's a learning experience!

 

[NatJ]

I candled them when I brought them inside last night and I noticed one of them looked just like a normal fresh egg and the others were darker, some of them looked like they had space on one end but I know that can mean they were rotten. So the normal one makes a lot of sense now. Well, it's a learning experience!

The air space at one end can happen with a normal fresh egg, an older egg, a rotten egg, or a chick growing inside. It can give an idea of how old the egg is (older eggs have lost more moisture, so the air space is bigger.) But other than that, it's the non-airspace part that gives the most information about what is going on inside the egg.

Yes, definitely a learning experience!

 

[Ridgerunner]

In that case, maybe you can make a chicks-only feeding setup. Maybe put the feeder inside something like a wire cage that chicks can enter but big chickens cannot. 2" openings are probably big enough for just-hatched chicks, but you would need bigger openings as they grow. If the chicks are with the broody, and she cannot reach the food, that might not work very well.

I consider that a good idea. I've done that with a creep feeder. I made a slat box big enough out of scraps that the hens could not stick their heads in it far enough to reach the feed. Within a couple of days the broody was bringing her chicks to it so they could eat, even though she could not. My purpose was not to feed different kinds of feed, they all ate the same stuff, but to keep the adults from wiping out the feed on the ground where the new chicks could get to it. This was only for the first couple of weeks. By the time they were 2 weeks old they were flying up to the hanging adult feeders to eat what the adults had. That's why they all ate the same thing, they were going to eat the adult's feed anyway.

I ended up cracking the eggs. Three of them busted open rotten. One of them just looked normal with a yolk, so not sure what that all means.

For an egg to go rotten bacteria has to get inside the egg through the porous shell. About the last thing a hen does when she lays an egg is to put on a liquid layer of what we call "bloom" on it. That's why an egg looks wet as it is coming out. This bloom quickly dries and forms a layer that is very efficient on keeping bacteria out. Nothing is perfect but it is amazingly efficient.

For three of your eggs to be rotten that layer of bloom was compromised. The eggs may have been washed. Maybe sandpapered or rubbed to remove dirt or poop. If a glob of mud or poop got on the egg that can compromise the bloom. One time I had an egg burst in the nest (probably thin-shelled and the broody hen stepped on it). That egg material got on the other eggs and compromised the bloom. No eggs hatched.

I only set clean eggs. I don't mind a little dusting of dry dirt but any that have a glob of dried mud or poop are not set. I don't clean my eggs for incubating, just select carefully. I haven't had a rotten egg in the incubator yet (that can change at any time) and practically never have one under a broody hen. I don't know if that bloom was compromised before you got the eggs, if it was something you did, or something that happened under the broody. But for three of them to grow bacteria inside tells me that something happened.

 

[tori729]

For an egg to go rotten bacteria has to get inside the egg through the porous shell. About the last thing a hen does when she lays an egg is to put on a liquid layer of what we call "bloom" on it. That's why an egg looks wet as it is coming out. This bloom quickly dries and forms a layer that is very efficient on keeping bacteria out. Nothing is perfect but it is amazingly efficient.

For three of your eggs to be rotten that layer of bloom was compromised. The eggs may have been washed. Maybe sandpapered or rubbed to remove dirt or poop. If a glob of mud or poop got on the egg that can compromise the bloom. One time I had an egg burst in the nest (probably thin-shelled and the broody hen stepped on it). That egg material got on the other eggs and compromised the bloom. No eggs hatched.

I only set clean eggs. I don't mind a little dusting of dry dirt but any that have a glob of dried mud or poop are not set. I don't clean my eggs for incubating, just select carefully. I haven't had a rotten egg in the incubator yet (that can change at any time) and practically never have one under a broody hen. I don't know if that bloom was compromised before you got the eggs, if it was something you did, or something that happened under the broody. But for three of them to grow bacteria inside tells me that something happened.

Since I got the eggs from a friend and she knew what they were for, I doubt she cleaned them beforehand. HOWEVER I noticed a smell a week or two in and thought that maybe some poop from the hen had gotten onto some of them. River also smelled a bit as well but I figured it was just because it was hot, she had plucked her feathers, etc. I noticed some brown spots on some of the eggs. I didn't want to disturb the eggs though so I just left them. It's very possible that it damaged them too much.

 

[tori729]

It's SO fascinating to watch a hen with her chicks. After a few days of staying in the coop, she brought them out to the run with her. I wasn't sure how she got them out (I guess they just fell down the ramp? They are quite sturdy little things.) and I noticed her wanting to go back in the coop in the early evening so I put a couple chicks on the ramp to go in, put her in and then the rest of the chicks. I'm assuming I'll have to keep doing this for awhile?
The chicks just run to her and know their "mom" and she clucks to them; it's SO sweet. My kids, however, keep "stealing" the chicks and bring them inside where they cheep mercilessly for their mom. I get concerned she will stress about it and don't know if it's ok for them to bring them in for too long.

 

[tori729]

UPDATE: Last week one of our children accidentally injured a chick and she wasn't using one of her legs. I was so worried; I brought her inside but she was so sad and lonely I took her back out, waking up early for a few days to make sure she got down from the coop safely. After about a week, she's now almost completely back to normal.

We still have to help the chicks up to the coop; one night they all went up themselves but the night after, two were left frantically cheeping for their mama and the next night it was three of them. We keep helping them up the ramp so hopefully they will get it soon.

We think we have two roosters because we noticed two of our orpingtons had very different wing development from each other with one having short wings and the other long. We compared it to our other probable rooster and our pullet chicks and sure enough, the rooster has the shorter wings as well and after researching, I learned about the "wing trick" I had heard about before. So one of our straight runs is a rooster which I'm fine with. We will have to figure out what to do with our roosters though and there are very mixed opinions about this. In the end, our neighbors may be calling the shots on it and of course we definitely can't keep both of them either way.

Has anyone had success in trading roosters for hens? Two for one? I would LOVE some blue or green eggs!
I also keep toying with whether to trade some of our brahmas, namely our mama hen who went broody three times this year. She's a GREAT mama but I don't need chicks every year b/c we would run out of room! Plus, ALL of our brahmas are our least friendly. They run away, won't let you pet them, etc. They are very laid back and don't mind being held but they will never come up like our RIRs and Marans. I really felt like I was bonding with River the mama but she still hates when I touch her and runs away, despite the every day pats and gentle words I gave her when I was checking on her clutch. Ugh. Anyways...

 

[NatJ]

...and after researching, I learned about the "wing trick" I had heard about before. So one of our straight runs is a rooster which I'm fine with.

It's no surprise to get some males among straight run chicks.

But I would wait for other signs of it being male before you do anything permanent like rehoming or butchering.

Wing sexing, also called feather sexing, seems to be a popular topic. Unfortunately, many places talk about it without mentioning that it DOES NOT WORK on most chicks. Some breeds have only slow-feathering chicks, some have only fast-feathering chicks, some have both sexes with each feathering speed, and some have been specially bred to have slow-feathering males and fast-feathering females. (To get that, the hatchery crosses a fast-feathering male with a slow-feathering female to get chicks that show traits opposite of what their parents have.)

 

[tori729]

It's no surprise to get some males among straight run chicks.

But I would wait for other signs of it being male before you do anything permanent like rehoming or butchering.

Wing sexing, also called feather sexing, seems to be a popular topic. Unfortunately, many places talk about it without mentioning that it DOES NOT WORK on most chicks. Some breeds have only slow-feathering chicks, some have only fast-feathering chicks, some have both sexes with each feathering speed, and some have been specially bred to have slow-feathering males and fast-feathering females. (To get that, the hatchery crosses a fast-feathering male with a slow-feathering female to get chicks that show traits opposite of what their parents have.)

Huh, that's interesting! So even though I have two buff orps that I got in the same batch straight run, same size/age but with very different wing growth, they could still both be the same sex?

Don't worry, we aren't making any decisions while they are still little, my kids wouldn't allow it!

 

[NatJ]

Huh, that's interesting! So even though I have two buff orps that I got in the same batch straight run, same size/age but with very different wing growth, they could still both be the same sex?

Yes, it is possible for them to be the same sex. Of course it is also possible for them to be different sexes, so I wouldn't make any bets either way just yet.

Don't worry, we aren't making any decisions while they are still little, my kids wouldn't allow it!

I'll look forward to an update when you do know, because by now I'm curious which way they turn out.