Safety of chicks in coop

[Minx]

Hi there

I am very new to all that is chicken but I am totally hooked with my new hobby.

I have 10 laying hens and 1 light sussex rooster. One of my hens is sitting on about 20 eggs. She has made her nest in the main sleeping area in the far corner. Now at the moment she is quite content and isnt bothered when the others come in to lay or at bed time.

My concern is when the eggs hatch should I separate her and the babies from the others or will they be ok left in with the other hens and rooster ??

No doubt this has been asked a million times before so I thank you for your patience ....

Minx
(the novice

)

 

[Minx]

Please help ... I am quite worried about what to do for the best. Thanks

 

[Shogun99]

I wish I could help but I am not experienced on broody chickens. DId you try sending a PM to Miss Prissy? She is one of the moderators with a wealth of information. Personally I would just leave her and the chicks alone unless they are being attacked by the other large hens and rooster. Just my 2 cents here...

 

[lurky]

I have moved the mom and babies to a cage for the first few weeks til the babies learn to move out of the way of big birds. I have also let mom hatch right in the nest box and we just built up the front a little so the nest box was more box like to keep the babies from falling out. Both went well for me, but i like the cage for my own piece of mind. The only problem i had......when you take the hen out for a while.......the roo goes after her big time to mate her when you let her back. It makes it difficult for her to guard the babies, and creepy for the poor little babies.
I think alot depends on how things are set up. If you have a small coop, I think it increases chances for the babies to get stepped on my big birds. I guess you have to decide how you will feel after you factor it all.

 

[Mahonri]

Hi,

I would say it depends upon how many hatch.

Is she protected at present from dropping on the roosts?

If she has under 10, I think she may be able to protect her chicks.

If there are over 10 you might want to put her in a brooder or pen where she can care for them until they are four or five weeks old.

Others here will tell you to separate her no matter what. I grew up with hens and chicks in the coop (a very roomy coop) and the babies grew up fine and were protected by the mother hen.

 

[chickn]

i have done both also, usually all is fine either way, i like to separate to give the chicks the feed they need without the other chickens thinking its a treat and trying to eat it, usually the hen protects her chicks from any problems, but i like to separate

 

[Minx]

They do have a roomy coop and are let out into a large run each day to come and go as they please. They also have free range time when possible.

I shall leave her be for the time being then and once chicks hatch will watchout for any trouble and go from there.

Thanks for your replies

 

[bearz]

I'm fairly new to this but I've done this twice now with my silkie mamas.

When it gets close to hatching time I put the mama, babies and nesting box on the floor with a cage around them. This way the other birds can see her and vice versa. When the babies are born they can run in and out of the cage between the bars so that if they are scared they can run back to mama and be safe. I keep mama in the cage until they chicks are about 3 weeks old and having a hard time fitting thru the bars. Then I open the door so that mama can come and go as she wants. By then the others are used to the babies and if they get chased by one of the other hens she lets them know right away that her babies are to be left alone.

I haven't had one pecked yet.