Quick ? about 2 new babies with Broody (Updated photos pg.2)

[ARchick]

I've got a little mille d'uccle bantam that looks like is about to hatch 2 new babies today. She got off the nest a minute ago to eat & I looked at her 2 eggs she's been setting on & they appear to be hatching. They've got a hole in them & when I touched them they started peeping.

Question is do I need to run get a bag of chick starter for her to teach them to eat or what?? They are in with my 9 other standard hens & Buff Orpington Rooster (Dad). Thanks for any help

 

[crazy4eggsJulie]

Hi-
we recently had a broody hatch our first ever chicks. I left her with the first hatched baby to take my kids to school. When I returned, the baby was gone. All I can figure is that the others ate it. I know it sounds horrible-but there is no other answer. I thought she would do fine raising her own. She killed the next chick and accidentally stomped a third one. I was later told that it is better to separate the mother and the chicks/remaining eggs from the others in the coop and also to take the babies from her within a few hours. The babies will be fine for a day or so but you do need to go ahead and get some medicated chick starter to have on hand. You'll need it soon! Sprinkle it all over the bottom of the box or container you put them in so that they can easily find it. For the water, I just dipped their beaks in it once and they returned to it without a problem.

Good luck!

 

[noitulover]

you definitely need to separate the broody and chicks/eggs from the flock... the flock will kill them...

it depends whether she is a good mother or not, as to whether she will care for them properly... i would move them inside, broody, chicks, and eggs, and watch her... see if she's stepping/pecking them, if she is, remove the chicks... and if she seems to be caring for them, leave them with her!

you will still need chick starter...

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

You need to separate the mom eggs/chick off from the rest of the flock and you need to watch the mom carefully to make sure she doesn't try to hurt the chicks. I had a BO hen once and she had hatched out 2 chicks and more kept hatching and 1 morning I found a baby chick that had hatched with a hole threw it's head ... and then she tryed to kill another chick that hatched ,but I saved it and took all her chicks away.

 

[ARchick]

Thanks for the advice everyone!!! I really don't have a place to separate her from the rest of the flock. I was hoping she would be able to raise them right in the coop with the rest of the flock. Going to get some chick starter now, guess I need to figure out a place to put her with the babies. I wonder how long before they're out of the shell??

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

It takes about 2 or 3 hours. ( I think! )
It may not take as long, though.

 

[crazy4eggsJulie]

Quote:
ARchick,
My husband easily built a brooder out of a cheap piece of plywood. $18, I think. Works great in the house or garage until they are old enough to move back in the coop. Also, one of ours took an entire day to get out of his shell. I thought it was dead, but it finally worked its way out.

How exciting!

 

[ARchick]

Thanks, I'm going to go out there & fix up my tub brooder that I started my flock in. Just got back with some chick starter, now I'm going to see if the babies are out yet.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I hope they hatched!

 

[ARchick]

I just checked and there was half of a shell in the edge of the nest box with her. I tried to peak under her & one of the babies started peeping & then she started pecking me hard.

I can't wait to see what they look like. 1 should be a pure buff orpington & the other should be a buff orpington/production red cross.