Options for Broody Hen Raising Chicks in Coop

[NatJ]

How do I make sure she can leave to run around/dust bathe, etc?

she's fine where she is for now. My question is when the chicks all hatch and I can section them off, does she need to be able to get out for that first week or two? If so, how would I block off a section but allow her to get out? Should I just go in and make her leave once a day?

After the chicks hatch, she should stay with the chicks. Do not try to let her out of a pen and keep the chicks in.

The very first few days, the hen will probably not want to get away from her chicks at all. She will pretty much stay on the nest with them, eating & drinking what she can reach from the nest, while they practice coming out to eat and going back under her to snuggle and slep. Within a very few days, when the hen is ready to move around more, the chicks will be able to follow her pretty much anywhere she goes. At that point she should just take them along when she goes to dustbathe or eat or anything else.

You can make the hen & chicks pen big enough that she can run around and dust bathe in it too. Or let her and the chicks out for a while each day so she can do that if she wants. Or leave her and the chicks in the main coop & run, and she can also run around and dust bathe if she wants.

I guess I need to go get some regular chicken feed.

Chicks need crumbles (little pieces) rather than pellets (bigger pieces).

The feed can be labelled starter, grower, all-flock, flock-raiser, or several other things. It should have at least 18% protein. Up to about 30% is safe enough (will not hurt the chicks or adults), but I would not bother buying anything higher than about 22% because it will be more expensive and there will be no real benefits. Calcium should be between 1% and 2%.

Layers need more calcium than that, so provide a separate dish of oyster shell (many people do this anyway, so you might have it already.) Do not worry about the chicks eating the oyster shell. They may taste a little bit, but they generally do not eat enough to hurt themself. (It looks like oyster shell does not taste good to chickens unless they actually need the calcium.)

 

[DobieLover]

I would think we would keep her and her chicks in the run at first to keep them safe as they grow and learn.

I would leave the door to the run open when you let the flock out and let the mother decide when she's comfortable taking the chicks out. They do always wait a bit and when they do first take them out they stick pretty close to the run.

 

[tori729]

The very first few days, the hen will probably not want to get away from her chicks at all. She will pretty much stay on the nest with them, eating & drinking what she can reach from the nest, while they practice coming out to eat and going back under her to snuggle and slep. Within a very few days, when the hen is ready to move around more, the chicks will be able to follow her pretty much anywhere she goes. At that point she should just take them along when she goes to dustbathe or eat or anything else.

You can make the hen & chicks pen big enough that she can run around and dust bathe in it too. Or let her and the chicks out for a while each day so she can do that if she wants. Or leave her and the chicks in the main coop & run, and she can also run around and dust bathe if she wants.


Chicks need crumbles (little pieces) rather than pellets (bigger pieces).

The feed can be labelled starter, grower, all-flock, flock-raiser, or several other things. It should have at least 18% protein. Up to about 30% is safe enough (will not hurt the chicks or adults), but I would not bother buying anything higher than about 22% because it will be more expensive and there will be no real benefits. Calcium should be between 1% and 2%.

Layers need more calcium than that, so provide a separate dish of oyster shell (many people do this anyway, so you might have it already.) Do not worry about the chicks eating the oyster shell. They may taste a little bit, but they generally do not eat enough to hurt themself. (It looks like oyster shell does not taste good to chickens unless they actually need the calcium.)

Should I put a small container of food and water in the coop then for her for the first few days? Not sure how I would keep the rest of the flock away from it though.

I'm really most concerned about the chicks going down the ramp. If I add in the pegs, I'm assuming they won't just try to go down the ramp themselves and if they do, they will understand not to just walk off?

I need to check the food I have, I know it's layer pellets. I might offer crumbles separately for the chicks; I HATE crumbles in the 5 gallon bucket; they make a HUGE mess and when it rains a lot, it causes mold growth on the ground around it.

I have plenty of oyster shells and I offer egg shells of used eggs as well. My hens LOVE the shells and only eat the oyster shells if that's all they have. So that's not a problem.
How long would the chicks need crumbles? I have a small bag of chick feed already, just trying to figure out what else to buy for the flock and stuff.

 

[tori729]

I would leave the door to the run open when you let the flock out and let the mother decide when she's comfortable taking the chicks out. They do always wait a bit and when they do first take them out they stick pretty close to the run.

So if I put in some more pegs, there's no worry about the chicks falling out of the coop? That's my biggest worry; that they will start to wander and then fall out the door lol.

 

[Yardmom]

I have a ramp on my main coop. My broodies usually wait several weeks before they lead the littles out. Even in my other coop that is ground level the moms stay in the night quarters for a couple weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What about candling? Is that something I should do or just not bother with?

What do you hope to gain by candling? It is not going to help the chicks hatch. If you have electricity in the coop it's not that hard to do. I never candle eggs under a broody hen but if you really want to you can. A lot of people do. It is purely your choice.

I'm really most concerned about the chicks going down the ramp. If I add in the pegs, I'm assuming they won't just try to go down the ramp themselves and if they do, they will understand not to just walk off?

I think you're worrying about the wrong thing. Anything is possible so they could fall down but you might find that a pretty rare occurrence. It's probably not going to hurt them if they do fall. I've seen a hen get her chicks out of a 10 feet high hayloft. She said jump and they did, then ran to her when they were on the ground. Some of my nests are four feet above the coop floor. My broody hens have never had a problem getting their chicks to safely jump down to the coop floor.

At some point, the hen will lead her chicks out of the coop and get them on the ground. They won't be able to fly back up until they are 2 or maybe 3 weeks old if they are slow feathering. They will not know how to use the ramp, at least for a few days. When it starts getting dark the hen will fly up to the top of the ramp and call her chicks. They do not know to go to the end of the ramp and walk up. After a while the hen will probably fly down to them and collect them to sleep down there. You have two options.

You can do as Dobielover suggested, help the chicks up to the top of the ramp. They will figure out how to use that ramp but it may take a few nights. Just be out there at dark to make sure they hen and chicks are somewhere safe.

Or you can provide a predator-safe place for them to sleep on the ground. Make an area dry in case it rains. Make it big enough that you can keep food and water in there. After she brings the chicks off of the nest, lock her and the chicks in there for two nights, which means let them out on the third day. Then let her and the chicks out to roam with the flock. At night she should take the chicks back to that shelter to sleep so you can close the door to keep predators out. I've done this several times, it has worked each time for me.

I have a ramp on my main coop. My broodies usually wait several weeks before they lead the littles out. Even in my other coop that is ground level the moms stay in the night quarters for a couple weeks.

Isn't it interesting how we get different results. When I leave my broody hens with their chicks in the ground level main coop they tend to stay in the coop for two or three days after bringing the chicks off of the nest. Then they take the chicks out every morning and stay out all day until bedtime, when they bring them back to sleep on the floor of the coop. Or am I misinterpreting your term "night quarters"?

How often do your chicks fall off of that ramp other than when the hen is taking them out?

 

[Yardmom]

The night quarters on my smaller coop is a fenced area inside a large barn structure.
As far as chicks falling off the ramp, not really sure because chicks can handle drops. It is not a problem. I've had dozens of broodies in my coop with the ramp. Only a handful of chicks didn't figure out how to go back in the first time out. Those that don't get it are held in position as they are walked up the ramp. Chicks learn after being shown once.

 

[tori729]

I have a ramp on my main coop. My broodies usually wait several weeks before they lead the littles out. Even in my other coop that is ground level the moms stay in the night quarters for a couple weeks.

Interesting. My coop isn't that big and the chickens don't spend any time in there during the day other than laying eggs. I would assume she would want to leave but I guess I can just keep food and water in the coop for awhile.

What do you hope to gain by candling? It is not going to help the chicks hatch. If you have electricity in the coop it's not that hard to do. I never candle eggs under a broody hen but if you really want to you can. A lot of people do. It is purely your choice.

I just read that it's good to do in case you have a rotten egg, that way you can remove what's not viable before it breaks/gets stinky etc. It seems stressful and I don't *really* care so I guess I'll just leave her to it.

You can do as Dobielover suggested, help the chicks up to the top of the ramp. They will figure out how to use that ramp but it may take a few nights. Just be out there at dark to make sure they hen and chicks are somewhere safe.

I think this is what I'll do. It's pretty easy for me to be around at night fall, or my kids would be happy to help. That seems the easiest. Then she can go back to her nesting box with them or in a corner near the other roosts.

 

[NatJ]

Should I put a small container of food and water in the coop then for her for the first few days? Not sure how I would keep the rest of the flock away from it though.

The rest of the flock might eat it too. I don't have any good solution either, other than maybe to put out enough for them all to eat.

I'm really most concerned about the chicks going down the ramp. If I add in the pegs, I'm assuming they won't just try to go down the ramp themselves and if they do, they will understand not to just walk off?

As several other people have said, it is not a big deal if the chicks do walk off. They are so light they usually land safely anyway.

I need to check the food I have, I know it's layer pellets. I might offer crumbles separately for the chicks; I HATE crumbles in the 5 gallon bucket; they make a HUGE mess and when it rains a lot, it causes mold growth on the ground around it.

You could try offering both. Buf unless you come up with a chicks-only feeder, the adult hens will probably eat the chick feed too. Either it tastes better to them (maybe because it has more protein?) or they like it just because it's different. Of course there will be some hens who hate it because it's different, but those will be happy with the layer pellets.

I think all-flock and flock-raiser come in pellets as well as crumbles. Once the chicks are big enough to swallow pellets, you could use one of those feeds to control the mess, while still providing a food with the right nutrition for the growing chicks and also the rest of the flock (with the hens getting their extra calcium from oyster shell and eggshells, as you already have set up.)

How long would the chicks need crumbles? I have a small bag of chick feed already, just trying to figure out what else to buy for the flock and stuff.

I don't know for sure. I expect they need crumbles for at least a month, possibly longer for standard-sized chickens, and definitely longer for bantams. When you think they might be getting big enough, you could put some pellets in with their food and watch if they eat the pellets, or you could see if they are raiding the main flock feeder if it has pellets (all flock or flock raiser pellets, not layer pellets because those have too much calcium for chicks.)

When you see one or two chicks eating pellets, keep an eye on the others for a bit before you switch completely: they may not all be ready at the same time.

 

[tori729]

Update! So far we've hatched one chick on day 20 (yesterday). I found him cheeping away by himself in the nest. Mama had moved to the next nest for some reason and was sitting on newly laid eggs. I moved her back to the nest with the baby and she's been there ever since. I keep checking on her and the baby and the eggs. No pips or anything but since she never leaves, it's hard to really check the eggs. Since I really feel like there's no way to keep her and the chick separated from the rest in the coop where they are, I have fixed up our chicken tractor and I'm going to put that inside the run, partially under the coop and move her in there with her eggs and the chick. I'll make sure it's fully covered at night. It's not completely predator proof (there's no bottom) but inside the run it should be fine and covered up they should stay safe.

Chick hasn't eaten or drank yet. Should I go ahead and move them with the eggs today so chick can start doing that? I put some water out right near the nest but haven't seen either of them come out to drink.

And what's the best thing to do with the eggs? Mama is still sitting on them but if I move them, I'm not sure she will continue to sit. She keeps shooing the baby back inside her wings. I do have a heat lamp I can put on them and put them in a cooler or something to keep them warm if needed. No more broodies though.

Attached a picture. I think this may be a barred rock chick but if it is, it's most likely male because it has a BR mom and an Orpington dad. I really hope we get some more chicks so we can keep some! (can't have roosters here. )