Our Speckled's Eggs are Hatching as I Write This! Several Questions!

[Mattole]

Hello Everyone,

The day of hatching has arrived, a few days earlier than my wife and I were expecting, and I have some questions about how to best help our Speckled Sussex Matilda raise her chicks. I looked in the Learning Center for info on hens with their chicks but did not find anything.

She is right now on the enclosed front porch inside of a large insulated (and heated) dog carrier with a towel as a door over the front. This is where she has been for the past three weeks setting on her eggs (except for when she has called to go outside to eat and do her business).

This morning I went out to check on her and saw a tiny head peeking out from under her. The hatch is on! Amazing!

We have a section of the porch of about 7 feet by 6 feet separated off which is enough for the dog crate and some space around it. There is about 3 inches of pine shavings on the floor of this area. The temperature of this area ranges from about 40 at night to 45-60 during the day. As I said the dog crate is heated, and we are keeping the temperature at about 75 degrees. Our thought was to put a heat lamp in one corner of this area outside the crate and put food and water there for the chicks.

So questions questions, several questions, that I would really appreciate some help with:

Is the hen still going to want and need to get outside during this time, or will she be focusing entirely on her chicks and stay inside the porch area enclosure? If she does want to go outside, I should keep the chicks in the enclosure where the heat is, right?

The two chicks that have hatched so far are nestled in next to the hen at present, looking pretty content. How soon do the chicks start to eat and drink? I was caught by surprise by the hatching and don't have chick starter right now - if they are supposed to eat right away can I put out ground up scratch mix and/or ground layer pellets for the chicks until I get to the feed store later today? Should I put food and water in the dog crate for them or will they find it if I put it outside the crate?

I'm sure more questions will come soon. Many thanks for your help!

 

[Mattole]

No helpful chicken folk here with words of wisdom for a newcomer?

 

[bethandjoeync]

I would say, let momma guide them out. chickens have survived without us for a while. and it will be such a sight to see how momma hen teaches the babies right off the bat.

as far as feed. chick feed and water will suffice. Momma hen can eat the chick feed just fine. she won't need any oyster shells or anything like that, because she won't lay another egg for a while. mine took almost 2 months after hatching her little clutch, before she laid an egg. and she laid a perfectly good egg, while only having chick feed.

good luck and have fun! hope that helped some!

editted to add: it's not advised to give chicks layer feed because it has different levels of nutrients and somethings that they don't need that could be harmful at their young age. Chicks don't have to eat for 3 to 4 days after hatching, because they are still absorbing the yolk's nutrients. I would say, get some chick feed soon.

 

[EastinChickens]

Mama will teach the chicks EVERYTHING.

Q #1: She will concntrate on the chicks, and only the chicks. She will only go outside to show the chicks how to scratch. It does seem like it will be a little cold for them, though, so I don't think mama will be taking them out any time soon.

Q #2: As far as food and water- they will survive off the yolk they absorbed before hatching for about 72 hours. When all of the chicks are hatched, put a dish of chick starter in there, mama will show them how to eat. Put a shallow dish with water in there also, and put marbles in the dish just in case a chick falls in.


Good luck!!!!

 

[Mattole]

Thanks very much for your answers. There are at least 5 hatched out now, looking very happy and perky, with 6 more to go. What a miracle!