question about broody hen on eggs

[mmclaughlin]

Hi
Peggy's is in the "nursery" on day 18.. should be about "lockdown" I have never hatched before so this is new to me!!
Her comb is pale hasn't been off her eggs since wednesday night
I don't want to disturb her if the eggs are going to be early...I'm sure hatching is tough on their health. Is there anything I should give her after they hatch? Hoping to see some fluffy butts later this weekend!!
any advise for a newbie??
Michelle

 

[Ridgerunner]

It may still be early in Massachusetts for strawberries, but get some appropriate fruit and enjoy it with vanilla ice cream while you stay out of the way and let Mama do the work. I find the less I interfere the less damage I do.

When Mama decides the hatch is over she will bring them off the nest. At that time you need to have water and appropriate food available to them where the chicks can reach it. If they are in a coop with other chickens that can be a bit of a challenge since the other chickens tend to think of anything out of the ordinary as a treat and eat that first.

For water I use a dog bowl and fill it with small rocks. The chicks will walk on the rocks when they drink so they don’t drown. It doesn’t matter if their feet get wet, they will quickly dry. Since this is on the coop floor, the other chickens will probably scratch it full of bedding. I take a piece of carpet and spread that on the bedding, then put the bowl on that. The water still gets dirty but that carpet makes a lot of difference. A decent sized piece of plywood would work too.

Feed can have the same issues but I don’t consider that as critical as clean water. Disease can grow very quickly in dirty water so make sure you dump the water out at least every day to keep it clean. Disease is not nearly as likely to grow in dirty feed as long as it is dry so I relax my standards some on that, but obviously you have to have limits on dirty feed as well.

That’s about it. Mama really will take care of the rest.

 

[mmclaughlin]

thanks so much!!
I try to just leave her be... she has been moved to the "nursery" with fresh water and chick starter for food.
It's a separate area in the run so she's away from the rest of the girls but the rest of the girls and see her.
might just need a glass of wine to add to the fruit hehehe!! very hard to just wait