Questions about chicks in community run

[Lesjr883]

I have a broody hen with 14 eggs under her. The eggs came from another chicken owner as I do not have a rooster. The hen is in the nesting box that is in the run with 7 other hens. They are due to hatch Friday and Saturday.
Question #1:
Do I need to isolate her and the eggs before they hatch, or will she protect the little chicks from the other hens?

Question #2:
What type of water container do I use for the little chicks? Currently I use 5 gallon buckets with water cups. They are well above the ground to keep them from getting dirty. I have small water containers, but they get spilled very easy.

Thanks to anyone that gives advise and help. This is my first time hatching eggs ever.

 

[IamRainey]

Wish I could provide help but I've never gotten a hen to be broody. ...except once before there were any fertilized eggs. I especially wanted a broody hen to become a mama hen who would protect her chicks. But, in the end, I had to use an incubator. Now I'll have to be the mama that provides my 2wo chicks with the protection they'll need when they go out into the run.

Mostly, I'm very curious how a community run works. Mind providing some details? What happens when one person's hen goes off on someone else's? Who decides which eggs belong to whom? How do you control the spread of anything contagious? How are the responsibilities of feeding and clean out distributed? Where does this shared run get located and how does access work?

Seems like it could be wonderful to have a larger facility than an individual might be able to provide but a very generous cooperative spirit must be very important.

Meanwhile, I hope and trust someone else is going to be able to come to your assistance.

 

[Lesjr883]

Wish I could provide help but I've never gotten a hen to be broody. ...except once before there were any fertilized eggs. I especially wanted a broody hen to become a mama hen who would protect her chicks. But, in the end, I had to use an incubator. Now I'll have to be the mama that provides my 2wo chicks with the protection they'll need when they go out into the run.

Mostly, I'm very curious how a community run works. Mind providing some details? What happens when one person's hen goes off on someone else's? Who decides which eggs belong to whom? How do you control the spread of anything contagious? How are the responsibilities of feeding and clean out distributed? Where does this shared run get located and how does access work?

Seems like it could be wonderful to have a larger facility than an individual might be able to provide but a very generous cooperative spirit must be very important.

Meanwhile, I hope and trust someone else is going to be able to come to your assistance.

When I said community run, I meant that all my chickens share the run. There are chickens of all sizes and ages in the run, but they are all old enough to protect themselves. All the chickens in the run belong to me. I don't let anyone except my family in the run, no way I would let someone else's chickens in with mine.

 

[IamRainey]

OK. Got it! Probably a good plan. ...and probably silly of me to have gone somewhere else.

But the idea of a large, diverse flock sharing a space seems intriguing too if the right community of humans were doing it. Just think of the rainbow of eggs there might be!

 

[Peppercorngal]

My broody Maggie hatched her only fertile egg on Sunday. She is not isolated from the flock or the flock from her. Today they are out of the nesting box and she is teaching the chick to eat and drink. It's so nice I don't have to do anything! If one of the adult hens tries to come into the coop she "blusters" up a storm and they turn around and go back out. She is protecting her baby doing that. The younger 11 week old chickens (like the leghorn in the photo) she doesn't mind?! I don't know if your hen ever hatched chicks before? She should take care of them and my only worry would be the behavior of the other hens. I did have two chicks hatch during the middle of the night (different hen) and I found the two chicks dead and badly beaten in the morning. It just depends on your flock. I'm sorry that's not very good information for you! And you can see the type of waterer I use for chicks in the photo!

Good Luck, have fun!

 

[Alaskan]

Question #1:
Do I need to isolate her and the eggs before they hatch, or will she protect the little chicks from the other hens?

Depends.

Hopefully you have those days off? Then you can peek in pretty often throughout the day... or just get a good book and settle down and read in the coop.

Every hen is different, some make excellent mothers, and some don't.

Since this is her first try I would keep a close eye on her.

Last year I had a hen that was a great mom to the chicks (keeping them warm, feed etc.) But she would NOT defend them from the other hens. For some reason I had a couple of other hens that wanted to peck the chicks to death. However, since the mom was a first timer I was watching... so I scooped the family up before any harm was done, and they were put into my chicken tractor.

I also used to have a hen that would kill whatever she hatched.

But... other than those 2 outliers... the rest of my broodies have been good to the chicks, and defended the chicks from the rest of the flock, and it has good perfectly!

So... it will probably be fine... but watch

Question #2:
What type of water container do I use for the little chicks? Currently I use 5 gallon buckets with water cups. They are well above the ground to keep them from getting dirty. I have small water containers, but they get spilled very easy

Yep... that is difficult.

I put a baby chick waterer right next to the nest. USUALLY since it is right by the broody she will not let anyone else near it, so it doesn't get tipped over.

For the rest of my flock I have shallow rubber pans with rock ramps in them so that if chicks or ducklings fall in they can get back out.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

I've had a section closed off for my broodies & chicks. The chicks start zooming into the bigs area after a few days. By then, generally, the bigs are used to them and leave them alone

I have a silkie about to hatch a clutch in with my bigs (buckeyes). One of the buckeye hens has joined her just in time for the hatch. I'm going to leave them be & see what happens. The silkie is a fierce mama, so I'm hoping that everything will be ok.