Surprise Hatch

[texaschickyall]

I have a broody hen that decided to make a nest in the coop rafters. I noticed it finally last week and all but one egg was pretty developed so I left her alone not expecting them to even hatch bc my roosters are all 4 months old.
Well this morning I had 2 chicks! She's 9 ft in the air with 5 more eggs to hatch. What should I do? I so scared they will fall out of the rafters but I don't want to move the eggs at this point

 

[texaschickyall]

Here's the little area they are in. There is a little lip they have to make it over. But not much. And she is CRAZY protective. As soon as I dug them from under her she pushed them right back.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

In a situation like this I think I would quickly, and with as little fuss as possible, move mother chicks and eggs. Do you have a large crate big enough? If not use even a large box at this point. Even disturbing and possibly losing an egg, and stressing Mom a bit, is better than having a hatchling fall that far. Good luck

 

[texaschickyall]

I do have a crate I can move her to. I am just so worried about moving the pipped eggs. And Im worried if I take the chicks away as they hatch, she won't take them back when it's all done. I'd love her raise them.

 

[bobbi-j]

If it were me, I'd leave them alone until I knew that all of the eggs that are going to hatch have done so. My broodies usually stay on the nest for a day or so after hatching starts. The chicks will be fine tucked under her until tomorrow. They're not going to wander off by themselves yet. She'll keep them close. They don't need food or water until about 72 hours after hatching because they've absorbed the yolk. I'm not comfortable moving a broody once hatching starts. I don't want to take the chance of her abandoning the nest.

Have you ever seen how high up a Wood Duck nests? You know how they get the babies out of the nest? As soon as hatching is complete, the ducklings jump out of the nest - sometimes from as high up as 290 ft. (I just looked that up). I'm not saying you should let your chicks jump out of their rafter nest, just that if they do fall out, they'll most likely be OK. Can you put a thick layer of straw under their nest just in case they do bail out?

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I had a situation in my 'bator last hatch, where my 18 day eggs started hatching before I could remove the turner for lockdown! I was given the advice to quickly move and lockdown the eggs, even though I had a pip. I successfully moved all eggs and all of those pipped hatched perfectly, even with the move.

Your situation is a bit more touchy with your broody. Only you can weigh the risks of this situation.
If it were my sneaky hen

I would move the babies to a box, her to the crate, and then quickly as possible move the pipped eggs to place under her. Once she is settled on the pips, put in the remaining eggs and then the babies last so they don't get squished. I would then place the crate in a quite place for her to settle and finish hatching her brood.

On the other hand Bobbi-j too has a point about not disturbing them.

The decision is on you to decide what is best for your birds, then of course post pics of the babies afterwards

 

[bobbi-j]

The decision is on you to decide what is best for your birds, then of course post pics of the babies afterwards

X2!

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Here's the little area they are in. There is a little lip they have to make it over. But not much. And she is CRAZY protective. As soon as I dug them from under her she pushed them right back.

I saw this after my post LOL that is HAlarious

.

I love the cup move.

 

[texaschickyall]

That's my patented No Peck 5000 lol

 

[texaschickyall]

Three more have hatched since the move. And she's taking great care of all 5. One more egg is pipped and one just sitting there still. We are so excited!