Using broody hen to hatch chicks - my job when chicks are hatched?

[downekc09]

Hello! I have a hen who is very broody right now. I would like to order some eggs and try to have her hatch them. This is our first time trying to have chicks We have room for a wired dog pen in the coop; should I try to put her in the wired dog cage when she is sitting on the eggs or leave her in the nesting box until one hatches? Our nesting boxes are up higher, so I don't want any chicks to fall We can remove the nesting box she is in and move it into the wired dog cage (they are big cat litter bins screwed in).

Once hatched, is there something I need to do special for the chicks like different food available or something the hen needs? Does she feed them? How long do I keep chicks in with the hen?

T I A ! ! ! !

Picture of our broody hen, Shania

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Chicks are suprising good when it comes to fallong out of nests. As long as its lower than 12 feet they should be fine in my experience

 

[DobieLover]

How much space do you have in the coop and run and how many others chickens? Is the coop ground level or elevated?
I move broodies to a ground nest and make sure they stay broody and fully graft to the new site on fake eggs before giving them the eggs I want them to hatch.
I keep her in a private area with full access to the flock and they to her so the fertile eggs are marked with pencil so I can remove any errant eggs on the daily morning nest inspection when I remove her for a broody break. I stick around until she makes her way back to her nest.
My flock is on Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side so it is always an appropriate diet for whatever flock mix I have.
Mom does everything. I would make sure you have a chick safe waterer or convert the flock waterer to something chick safe.

 

[DobieLover]

Chicks are suprising good when it comes to fallong out of nests. As long as its lower than 12 feet they should be fine in my experience

I had one die of hypothermia that fell 4" out of the nest box the night it hatched. It couldn't get back under mom and she was sitting tight hatching the rest of the eggs.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I had one die of hypothermia that fell 4" out of the nest box the night it hatched. It couldn't get back under mom and she was sitting tight hatching the rest of the eggs.

Huh. Mine stayed put until mom jumped ship to find a new nesting place

 

[downekc09]

Chicks are suprising good when it comes to fallong out of nests. As long as its lower than 12 feet they should be fine in my experience

Our nesting boxes are about 2.5 feet up

 

[downekc09]

How much space do you have in the coop and run and how many others chickens? Is the coop ground level or elevated?
I move broodies to a ground nest and make sure they stay broody and fully graft to the new site on fake eggs before giving them the eggs I want them to hatch.
I keep her in a private area with full access to the flock and they to her so the fertile eggs are marked with pencil so I can remove any errant eggs on the daily morning nest inspection when I remove her for a broody break. I stick around until she makes her way back to her nest.
My flock is on Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side so it is always an appropriate diet for whatever flock mix I have.
Mom does everything. I would make sure you have a chick safe waterer or convert the flock waterer to something chick safe.

Our coop is about 12' x 12', and we have a chain link fence that splits it in half (we took the door our for now so all chickens have access to both sides, but we can put the door up anytime to split in half). We have 17 hens, no roosters. They all free range during the day, and we coop them at night. The coop is actually a part of our barn, and there are two doors that lead to outside, about 1.5 feet up with a ramp leading out for both.

 

[50-45-1]

Personally, I would move her.
The height will be an issue for chicks.
Also there will be the possibility of other hens laying fresh eggs in the nest while she is off the eggs eating and such.
Then there is the chance that when she returns to her nest box and it is occupied by another hen, she takes a different box of eggs and your hatching eggs get chilled.
I would keep her in the coop *if there is room* and set her up in the kennel with her nest box, water and food.

 

[downekc09]

Personally, I would move her.
The height will be an issue for chicks.
Also there will be the possibility of other hens laying fresh eggs in the nest while she is off the eggs eating and such.
Then there is the chance that when she returns to her nest box and it is occupied by another hen, she takes a different box of eggs and your hatching eggs get chilled.
I would keep her in the coop *if there is room* and set her up in the kennel with her nest box, water and food.

Okay thanks! I was thinking I'll keep her in the dog cage on the floor then. I think that would make me feel better, too She has been in her box over a week or two, but she is definitely sitting in a box that has been used a lot before she was broody.

 

[Ridgerunner]

should I try to put her in the wired dog cage when she is sitting on the eggs or leave her in the nesting box until one hatches? Our nesting boxes are up higher, so I don't want any chicks to fall

You will find that we do this all sorts of different ways. I let my hens hatch with the flock and raise the chicks with the flock while others isolate them. It sound like you've decided to isolate her so I'll not go through my procedure with hatching with the flock.

We can remove the nesting box she is in and move it into the wired dog cage (they are big cat litter bins screwed in).

If you are going to move her I suggest you move her at night after it is dark and use as little light and commotion as possible. One risk in moving her is that she breaks from being broody and won't accept the move. That dog cage sounds like it should be OK. You need a nest, food, and water in there. You don't want it much bigger than that. A broody should know to not poop in her nest and mess the eggs up but she has no qualms about pooping in her water of feed. Arrange it so you can clean.

I think it helps them accept the move if you can make their nest fairly dark. You might consider that when deciding how to make your nest. Move her and give her a day to see if she accepts the move, then get the hatching eggs.

One issue I've had when trying to isolate a broody and her chicks from other chickens is that if the chicks can get away from the broody where she can't protect them the chicks are in danger from other flock members. When they hatch, the chicks can probably walk through the wiring on that dog cage but the broody hen can't. You might want to attach wire mesh around the bottom of that dog cage so the chicks can't get out.

Once hatched, is there something I need to do special for the chicks like different food available or something the hen needs?

Are you going to let the broody hen raise the chicks with the flock or are you going to isolate them from the flock? Again, people do this all kinds of ways.

You do not want the chicks to eat Layer feed. There are enough studies that show that if the eat too much calcium they can damage themselves. The broody hen is not laying eggs while she is broody so she doesn't need that calcium either. When my broody hens raise the chicks with the flock, I feed all the chickens either Starter or Grower with oyster shells on the side. The ones that need the calcium for their egg shells seem to know it and the others don't eat enough oyster shell to harm themselves. If you isolate the hen and chicks the hen can eat what the chicks do.

The only thing I do for the chicks is make sure there is food and water down low where they can get to it. I leave everything else up to the broody.

Does she feed them?

It depends some on how you are set up. She will take them where they can eat. She may show them what and how to eat. She may tear food up into bite sized pieces for them. When my feeders for the adults are up high my broodies have spooned feed out to the ground where the chicks can get to it. By two weeks the chicks are flying up to those feeders to feed themselves.

How long do I keep chicks in with the hen?

At some point the hen will wean them. She stops taking care of them. I've had broody hens stop cold turkey taking care of them in all aspects, most do it this way. I've had hens stop taking care of the chicks at night but continue to take care of them during the day. I've had hens stop during the day but take care of them at night. I've had a couple of hens stop at three weeks, some go for well over two months before they wean them. Each time with each hen is different. If you want you can separate the broody and chicks at any time and brood them yourself. Some people do that. Once again there is no set way or set time to do any of this.

Good luck and welcome to the adventure.