Question about new hatchlings and momma hen??

[L_Thompson]

We are fairly new to having chickens and one of our hens (not sure exactly what breed she is) went broody a few weeks ago. She stopped laying her own eggs but started laying on/incubating our other 2 hens eggs. We also have a rooster, so a total of 3 hens and 1 rooster. I candled and confirmed 6 of the eggs had growing embryos so our broody “surrogate” hen has been laying on the 6 eggs and taking care of them. Today is day 21 and when we went to check on the chickens, there was 1 baby chick under our surrogate momma hen I’m anticipating the other 5 will hatch today as well. My questions are this:

Our actual coop sits high off the ground (about 5 feet) from the ground of the run that it’s in. I’m worried about the baby chicks following the momma hen down the ramp when she leaves the coop for food and water, etc. and them falling out and getting hurt and/or them not being able to climb back up the ramp to get back into the actual coop. Should I put momma hen and baby chicks in a separate run/coop? If so, do I put that run/coop near the flock so they can get used to seeing the baby chicks? Or should they stay with the rest of the flock, but then I worry about them falling down the ramp and not being able to get back into the coop? Thanks in advance for your advice/suggestions!

 

[LaurenRitz]

If they get down and can't get back up, Mama will likely nest down there with them until they can get back up by themselves.

You need to decide based on your own situation, but if there's no risk to them sleeping down below I'd let Mama make that determination.

Keep an eye on the situation. Since this is her first clutch, she might be uncertain about the best thing to do, but most likely she'll have the right instincts.

 

[redinator]

We are fairly new to having chickens and one of our hens (not sure exactly what breed she is) went broody a few weeks ago. She stopped laying her own eggs but started laying on/incubating our other 2 hens eggs. We also have a rooster, so a total of 3 hens and 1 rooster. I candled and confirmed 6 of the eggs had growing embryos so our broody “surrogate” hen has been laying on the 6 eggs and taking care of them. Today is day 21 and when we went to check on the chickens, there was 1 baby chick under our surrogate momma hen I’m anticipating the other 5 will hatch today as well. My questions are this:

Our actual coop sits high off the ground (about 5 feet) from the ground of the run that it’s in. I’m worried about the baby chicks following the momma hen down the ramp when she leaves the coop for food and water, etc. and them falling out and getting hurt and/or them not being able to climb back up the ramp to get back into the actual coop. Should I put momma hen and baby chicks in a separate run/coop? If so, do I put that run/coop near the flock so they can get used to seeing the baby chicks? Or should they stay with the rest of the flock, but then I worry about them falling down the ramp and not being able to get back into the coop? Thanks in advance for your advice/suggestions!

Could you provide pictures of the ramp? Maybe there's a way to decrease the slope, add side rails or more horizontal slats to make it easier for the chicks to navigate.

 

[Doodlemom63]

I have the same issue on the height and ramp situation my hen is on her eggs but only one has hatched but I had 2 that hatched in incubator at same time so I placed them under her so far she’s pleased and clucking at them, I placed small waterer and some starter crumbles nearby on the floor in hopes they don’t fall out and she’ll stay put until they are few days older

 

[Kurczaklover]

We are fairly new to having chickens and one of our hens (not sure exactly what breed she is) went broody a few weeks ago. She stopped laying her own eggs but started laying on/incubating our other 2 hens eggs. We also have a rooster, so a total of 3 hens and 1 rooster. I candled and confirmed 6 of the eggs had growing embryos so our broody “surrogate” hen has been laying on the 6 eggs and taking care of them. Today is day 21 and when we went to check on the chickens, there was 1 baby chick under our surrogate momma hen I’m anticipating the other 5 will hatch today as well. My questions are this:

Our actual coop sits high off the ground (about 5 feet) from the ground of the run that it’s in. I’m worried about the baby chicks following the momma hen down the ramp when she leaves the coop for food and water, etc. and them falling out and getting hurt and/or them not being able to climb back up the ramp to get back into the actual coop. Should I put momma hen and baby chicks in a separate run/coop? If so, do I put that run/coop near the flock so they can get used to seeing the baby chicks? Or should they stay with the rest of the flock, but then I worry about them falling down the ramp and not being able to get back into the coop? Thanks in advance for your advice/suggestions!

Our nesting boxes are not low. Broody Itch takes up residency frequently in the middle row. I always fret and worry, and somehow they always get down and mom pushes any others out of the nesting box and joins them. Once they are down I take another cat litter pail with no lid, add a piece of turf grass and tuck it in a less trafficked, sheltered part of the coop and that is where they sleep at night. Sorry about the Florida snow picture, it was the only one I could find showing the nesting boxes from a distance. I use leaves in this part of the coop on the ground and have several inches under and in front of the boxes.