What to do with newly hatched chicks??

[weebles&wobblesmom]

I have a hen that I have actually had for 3 yrs and she just now started setting. Anyway, we have 2 chicks so far as of this morning. They are up in a nesting box about 3 ft off the floor and no room to put food bowl. Should I move mom, babies and the unhatched eggs to the floor or leave them alone? I dont want them to fall out. I have never had chicks hatch before. I have always gotten them from a hatchery.

Thank you in advance for an advice.

 

[LuvMyChixs]

Will my hens or rooster bother my newly hatched chicks? I am so afraid they are going to hurt them. But really don't want to separated and then have to worry about reintroducing them! UGH! This is my first time, can you tell!

 

[rosinsk1772]

Hopefully someone has a reply for you. I have the same question. What did you end up doing

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Will my hens or rooster bother my newly hatched chicks? I am so afraid they are going to hurt them. But really don't want to separated and then have to worry about reintroducing them! UGH! This is my first time, can you tell!

Are they with their mama? She should protect the babies. We did a first in-flock hatch back in May, and the mama and babies did fine. Yes, the rest of the flock will be curious, and get a peck in here and there...but the 8 chicks from that hatch are healthy and strong.

If the babies have no mama to protect them, then they are more likely to be injured by the others.
As far as the roosters go....all 5 of mine have been good with the babies.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Broody hens have been raising chicks with the flock for thousands of years. You’re dealing with living animals so bad things can happen whether you separate them or not. But broody hens have been raising chicks with the flock for thousands of years.

What normally happens is that the hen decides the hatch is over and brings the chicks from the nest. She finds them food and water. The other chickens may be curious and come take a look but they do not normally go out of their way to attack a chick. My experience is that a good dominant rooster takes care of all members of his flock. Some dominant roosters will help a broody take care of her chicks or even take over raising them if something happens to Mama, though most won’t go that far. They are not all that good. But I have never had a dominant rooster threaten a baby chick.

Practically all the time the other hens and non-dominant roosters ignore the chicks unless that chick separates itself from Mama and invades the personal space of the older chicken. Then that chicken might or might not give that chick a peck to remind it that it is bad chicken etiquette for that chick to invade the personal space of its betters. The chick goes running back to Mama who ignores all this interplay. But if the older chicken threatens or chases the chick in any way Mama totally loses her cool and beats the crap out of the older chicken for threatening her baby. In those cases Mama has such a bad attitude no other chicken stands a chance.

You are dealing with living animals so it is not always like this. On rare occasions you will find an older chicken that does go out of her way to threaten the chicks. On rare occasions you find a broody that is not as protective as she should be. But these cases are rare. Broody hens have been raising chicks with the flock for thousands of years, usually quite successfully.

 

[rosinsk1772]

Do I need to build a ramp to the nesting box that is a foot off the ground?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't and my bottom nests are about that height. Normally Mama takes the chicks into the corner of the coop to spend the night, not back to a nest. I have had some hens try to get the chicks into a low nest, not the one they hatched in but another low one. On a couple of occasions all the chicks were able to jump up there. Once some made it but a couple did not but Mama stayed in the nest. I found those chicks peeping in the vicinity so I just caught them and tossed them in the nest with Mama. They made it the next night. And a couple of times I’ve seen a hen try to get the chicks into a low nest but some did not make it, so Mama brought the ones that did make it back out and went to a corner of the coop.

It is a good idea to check on them about bedtime to see what is going on. In all the years I’ve been doing this I’ve only had to interfere one time, when I tossed those chicks in the nest. Other than that one time, Mama has always been able to handle the situation.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

My broody that lives with the main flock is always trying to get her tiny babies up on the 7' high roost. It is sweet. She finally gives up and makes them a bed in the corner on the straw.

 

[rosinsk1772]

That's great to know!! So should I set up a "creep feeder" for their f

 

[rosinsk1772]

*food