Unexpectedly fostering a brooder hen and her chicks

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Bsimula23

In the Brooder
Feb 9, 2021
4
21
23
Hi my name is Becki in my neighborhood some of my neighbor's have chickens that roam freely around the community and to be honest I'm not sure which neighbors the chickens belong to. I live in central florida and I just discovered a brooder hen and her 10 chicks in my open barn/ shed. In my shed i have shredded rubber on the ground to help control the dust so that is what she dug into for her nest. When I discovered her and her chicks I only saw one at first but today I saw all 10 chicks, she hatched all eggs and they all were up moving around beside her today. The only experience I have with chickens is when I was a young child I had a chicken coop in Rhode Island with a few Rhode Island red hens no rooster and never had a broody hen who hatched any eggs. So I'm completely new at all this.. and I'm not even really a chicken "owner". I have a few questions and concerns.... 1. My main concern is the hens and chicks safety. The barn is open she is nested in a corner with a garbage can and plastic totes around her but there is a door sized opening between the garbage can and side of the structure and about 5 feet from her nest there is a swinging garage sized door. There are other free roaming chickens, roosters that come in my yard, there are rats,snakes, owls, hawks, and opossums in the area...how can I keep hen and her chicks safe? 2. I already have my hands full with a 2 year old, my dog, school, my husband and finances are tight. Any thing I have to buy or get to help this hen and chicks has to be very low or no cost. I don't want to just let her fend for herself but time and cost is just another reason why I don't have chickens of my own! I currently have no chicken supplies except I do have a roll of hardware cloth 3ft by 5ft with 1/2 in square openings(not trying to build a coop but if need be I could use that for protect them) I fed her crushed up oyster crackers and put fresh water in a potato salad lid 3 times today( chose lid bc it's a little less than 1/4 deep and held a little bit more water than a saucer). I appreciate any input, direction, advice...thank you!
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Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Yes, get her a bag of chick starter and keep a shallow dish of water for her. Can you set up a large dog crate wrapped in hardware cloth in the barn for her and keep the doors closed to minimize the chance at predation overnight? Just let her free range during the day.
 

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