Redinator's First Hatch-Along

[jxp]

I have a feeling this won't be your last set of babies.

 

[redinator]

I have a feeling this won't be your last set of babies.

Not even close, lol.

This will be the last set for the year though. I'll be getting too cold and damp to put young chicks in the yard without a hen looking after them. If another pullet goes broody though I'm all in, lol.

 

[redinator]

@jxp I was a bit concerned the 7 and 8 week olds might've gone feral since I hadn't been in the yard much this past week.

They ran initially when I went to pick them up, after I got one settled in my lap 4 others quickly joined in . . my heart wept . . .they missed me, they really really missed me.

 

[ChickenChick46]

@jxp I was a bit concerned the 7 and 8 week olds might've gone feral since I hadn't been in the yard much this past week.

They ran initially when I went to pick them up, after I got one settled in my lap 4 others quickly joined in . . my heart wept . . .they missed me, they really really missed me.

Aww!! So sweet!

 

[redinator]

6 days and counting . . . this is a whole new level of anxiety . . . I'll have very little control over the safety of these chicks. I haven't had chicks under 2 weeks old in the yard, yet. All I can do is make sure things are setup properly so Sweety has what she needs to take care of them.

I closed off the treadle feeder since I'm worried super small chicks might hop in and get trapped.

I put out several port style feeders the chicks can easily access.

I already set up chick hides for the 7 and 8 week olds. They're pallets set up on cinder blocks, so young chicks can get under them, but the older chickens can't.

Anything else I hadn't thought of?

 

[redinator]

I'll be checking the fenceline for gaps day olds might squeeze through.

 

[jxp]

I'll be checking the fenceline for gaps day olds might squeeze through.

Good timing with cooler weather coming on to check this for varmit patrol and control as well.
(would it be another bad reference if I mentioned two birds and one stone? )

 

[kattabelly]

Anything else I hadn't thought of?

Any other places a new chick might get stuck? Drops of more than a few inches with no way to get back up, or places they could get into but might seem like navigating through a maze to tiny baby brains if they don't already know the way out? Having a broody encouraging them will help but sometimes they just can't work out how to get out of a spot even if there is a useable route, especially when they're very young, and if it's not a place she can take the rest of the chicks to then the stuck chick will eventually have to be left so she can keep caring for the others.

E.g. I have a couple of old tires lying around that my chickens like to perch on, but if I had a broody hatching chicks I'd be checking those were all either full of dirt/whatever so there wasn't a big jump to get back out, or adding a few brick steps. Lost a lot of unplanned hedge-hatched ducklings a few years back because their mums liked to hang out in the veg field and the babies would manage to get into the tires weighing down membrane on the unused beds and then weren't able to get back out again.

 

[redinator]

Any other places a new chick might get stuck? Drops of more than a few inches with no way to get back up, or places they could get into but might seem like navigating through a maze to tiny baby brains if they don't already know the way out? Having a broody encouraging them will help but sometimes they just can't work out how to get out of a spot even if there is a useable route, especially when they're very young, and if it's not a place she can take the rest of the chicks to then the stuck chick will eventually have to be left so she can keep caring for the others.

E.g. I have a couple of old tires lying around that my chickens like to perch on, but if I had a broody hatching chicks I'd be checking those were all either full of dirt/whatever so there wasn't a big jump to get back out, or adding a few brick steps. Lost a lot of unplanned hedge-hatched ducklings a few years back because their mums liked to hang out in the veg field and the babies would manage to get into the tires weighing down membrane on the unused beds and then weren't able to get back out again.

I actually haven't slept worrying about things like this. The hen house is elevated about 1ft and a half off the ground. I'm concerned once the chicks leave the nest they won't be able to get back in. There's a ramp, but still I worry.

I was thinking of adding side rails, but at this point I'm more concerned the noise of a drill and such would disturb her and she'd abandon the nest.

I have a "chick" house (technically a dog house) I plan to set up next to the henhouse and hopefully she'll decide to use it if the chicks can't back up the ramp. The chick house is still elevated, but only about 6-8 inches and I could put a few bricks or pavers to make steps for them.

I don't even think I was this nervous with my first hatch, mainly because so much will be out of my control. All I can really do is watch for problems and solve them as they come up.

Edited: typo

 

[redinator]

Would moving her into the chick house before the chicks hatch be a good idea? I'd probably do it in the middle of the night so she just wakes up in it with the eggs under her.