Well, 22 days ago I put a white egg and two green eggs under a broody hen, and now ta da I got one so far. The other two should hopefully hatch tonight or tomorrow. I never candled them, so I don't know.
Now, my question is, that I put the broody hen in the nest box since day one, and I'm wondering how the chick/s are going to get down? Right now their tucked under mom, but when the get a few days old, when they need to eat, how will they? Do I need to take them from her and put them in my little brooder, or what???
Thanks in advance, Eric
New Hatchings!
I'd leave them with the hen unless for some unforseen reason she rejects them and won't care for them. She will keep them warm and teach them to eat etc... If you brood them now you will have to try to re-introduce them to the flock during the winter weather when everybody will be spending more time enclosed.
I think sticking with the hen is the best case scenario....but thats just my opinon. Maybe after the other hatches see if you can get the hen to move to a nest box on the ground so the chicks can follow her around easier.
Don't forget to post pics !!!
Julie
Well, here's the baby chick with its momma. I had to scoop it out from under momma.
Alright, so this morning I opened the coop door pretty late this morning (10:00). I found the hen and the chick on the bottom of the coop floor. I swear, when I closed the door last night they were up in the nest box. Could the hen of pushed the chick out of the nest box, then laid on it?
I decide to move them to a corner of the coop for more privacy LOL.
My coop is on wood stilts, and to get down it's about a two foot drop. I do have hanging feeders outside that I hang up about 1 off the ground. Do need to put two tiny bowls in the coop next to them with starter and water or will momma find food and water somehow for the chick???
Thanks, Eric
Sorry, it's kind of blurry.
She probably did toss it out or maybe it fell and she joined it. I would put some water where the chick can reach so she can teach it to drink. Maybe scatter a little extra feed around where the hanging feeder is , unless the flock normally scatters some that way she can teach it to eat/forage.
Looks like things are going well so far !!! Love to see chickie pics anytime!!!
Julie =0)
what happened to the other eggs?????????
Sorry it took a long time to answer, looking after the chick. But, as for now there will only be one chick. A few days ago I took the remaining two egg from under a REALLY broody hen. Cracked them and from them, and they both a had a really bad smell to them and some black liquid.
One of the eggs did have somewhat of a formation a chick in it, but it wouldn't of made it anyways.
But I'm happy with what I got!
well im sorry to hear about that but at least u got that one
Hi eric
How did your other chickens react to the new one. I have had three born last night and only have two hens but the other hen pecked the chicks today so I have had to put the hen in our garage overnight so I know she will not harm them. The chicks are still with their mum she is keeping them warm.
Lins
Well Congrats Pins. Mine are doing fine.
When they first hatched the mother hen was REALLY protective, guarding the young chick really well. Every time a chicken came a foot away from the baby chick the mother would chase and peck the the chicken that got too close to its baby chick. So now, about 2 weeks later, it's still being protective.
A few days after it hatched the chick had a swollen and beat up eye. I was planning on taking it in but after seeing the mother take really good care of it, I really didn't think it was her that did it. Maybe a little accident in the coop. But now it's all heal up. It only took 2 days to fully heal up after the accident!
I'll try to post a picture of it sometime today. It has most of it's feathers in!
Eric
Well, I finally got a picture of it. It took about a half hour! It kept running really fast. LOL. It's blurry again, forgot to put the cam on close view. I personally think it's a rooster because it is so, alert! But it is still too young to determine its sex.
Eric
This message was edited Oct 20, 2007 4:45 PM
Hi Eric
The picture is beautiful., How old are they now? Do you keep them altogether? Are they allowed to wander with their mum? How do you stop her from fighting with the other hen.
I am still having trouble with my hens. As I only have two it is quite a problem I have Molly sleeping in the garage we have to wait until she starts to roost and then we pick her up and put her in a box in the garage. Maddie and her chicks are in the hen house and they have a run which I am not brave enough to let them out of while Molly is around;.
If I let them out I have to shut Molly away as she will get into trouble with Maddie. I also have the added problem that Molly is laying her eggs somewhere and I need to sort out somewhere for her to go whilst she can't get into the hen house.
I thought a box in the greenhouse? any suggestions. All she is doing is wandering around the garden on her own or trying to peck the chicks through the wire on the pen.!!!
Any advice would be appreciated.
Lins
Hi, Pins. I only have one chick and it is doing fine. It is over 20 days old has almost all of its feathers in. And yes, if I did have two they would be together because they really need to get used to each other. I treat it like everyone else, except that I do have to feed and give it water at night while they are all bundle up in their coop. it seems to be getting slightly step on by the older ones. But still mum protects it. She's really starting to let the chick be independent now that it is getting older. But she still lays on it and helps it scavenge for food when it is in need. It also sometimes roosts with the others... that's pretty funny to see!
Now this is pretty confusing but here I go, Just the other day I saw the 1st momma teach the 2nd mommas chick how to eat, clucking (or something like that) every time she found food for the chick.
Alright, basically what I mean is that their was this one hen (1st momma) that went broody and started laying on four eggs. About on the 15th day another hen went broody (2nd momma) and stole the 1st mommas eggs. She sat on them until it was due time and ta da, 2nd momma became the mom. By the way 1st momma is still broody, it is about the 60th day! But I working on it. She seems to lose interest in it time by time.
So this chick has to moms. Pretty sad hey!
Well, what I think is that Molly is jealous of Maddie. What I think you should do is have Molly get some kids of her own. You said that you only have two hens, so probably 2-4 more chicks for Molly won't hurt.
So as your keeping here confined in the cage. Let her lay a few eggs in there, and give her the idea that she should lay on them. But this is just my opinion.
The Greenhouse idea might be a good one, as she can get more sunlight to boost up those hormones to make her lay more eggs and get broody.
Good Luck,
Eric
Hi Eric
My garden isn't big enough for more chickens. I think I am going to have to give the chicks back to the farmer who gave me the eggs in the first place for my broody hen to sit on. I haven't been leaving water and food at night. Should I be doing this they seem to be fine and growing every day.
Best wishes
lins
Every night, I put fresh water in a bowl, that is usaully there. Then as the mother and the chick are in their own nest boxes, I fill an area around the nest box with some chick starter. The mother does and will help the chick eat it.
Good Luck,
Eric
Hi all, it seems like I'm having the worst year with my chickens. I know you guys don't really want to hear about tragedies but here it is anyways. The baby chick is either missing or dead! I let them out in the morning and all them hopped out as well as the little one.
I left. Came back just an hour and a half ago. And just like that, it's missing. I don't know if I told you all, but I put yarn on top of my pen, to make a covering for them all, from the hawks,...etc (fencing the top would cost too much!) The Mothers don't seem to mind/care that it's gone. They act like it was never born. I went around the pen whistling to check if it was there, but no signs nothing!
Does anybody know know what I could be??? Any advice is welcome too!
Thank You a lot!
Eric
If the chickens came back in and the chick wasn't with them, a hawk or something probably got it.
Unless they have an extremely tiny yard, you don't ever have to let them out. They're a lot safer in their penned area.
Also, you can get a good sized roll of deer fencing at Lowes for around $12. It makes a perfect topper to keep hawks out of their fenced area. It can be stapled if you have wooden posts.
Said it before and I'll say it again - free ranging sounds a lot better than it is in practice. If you want your chickens to be safe from predators, give them a secure chicken yard and hutch and keep them in it.
Sry hart, you probably understood me wrong. They were not free ranging, they were in there pen area (run).
eric
You sure everything was secure? No places around the bottom of the fence where the chick could get out or something get it?
I would imagine if anything four legged got in there, you'd have lost more than one chick. Perhaps it managed to get out. If you think it was a hawk, try the plastic deer fencing I mentioned above.
Eric, Yarn stretched out over the top of a fenced chicken run won't stop 75% of the potential predators from eating your chickens. Your chicken run is very insecure. Experts strongly recommend fencing above and below a chicken run to eliminate the possibility of predators getting inside. Yarn is totally inadequate to protect poultry from invading .... especially in Michigan where mink, feral cats & raccoons, dogs are everywhere you turn. This unhappy ending was far too predictable. How tall is your fence ? If its 3ft tall ..... I don't know what else to tell you except start over with 6 ft woven wire. Woven wire costs $150 in 100 ft lengths. This amount of wire would provide a 6 ft tall fence on 2 sides ...18 ft long with 6 ft wide end pieces and wire on the floor and on the top to prevent animals from digging or flying over or crawling up & over or jumping into the run. You'd have to use sturdy wire strands to tie all six pieces of fence together and this run would need at least 4 heavy poles in each corner standing 6 ft wide apart and 18 ft at the long end. Anyone can build it with a modest amount of time and for under than $200.
My I have the type of fence you see on school yards or business places. I really doubt the chick got out from an opening in the fence, door,...etc. And I highly doubt something four legged got in. I checked around the in and outside of the pen for any holes or spots where something could of got in, but I saw nothing. I heard about the yarn thing, I think on here. Someone said that bright colors are a turn off for birds. I used bright orange yarn, I tried to make squares about 1 ft, I just don't see how it could fit in there.
But I do see what you say about the insecurity of my pen.
I will try to go to Lowes to get the deer fence for the top of the pen.
Thanks very much,
Eric
Eric, A cat could easily climb up and over your cyclone fence material. You'll need fencing on the top and the bottom. Chicks can squeeze through he tiniest of holes. I do not know how old your chick was but my best guess is it squeezed out through the holes in the fencing and a prowling cat got an easy lunch. Chicks need "chicken wire" fencing with holes the size of a quarter. If the holes are not that small .... they'll get separated from the hen and that's the end of the chick. This lower gauge fencing can be sewn flat into your cyclone fencing from ground level upward .... all the way around the lower perimeter. You can get by with 2 ft high and 40 ft long to keep a chick confined with the hen in your run if measures 18 ft by 6 ft. Chicks will not jump upward of 2 ft to go through a hole in the run. By the time they get to where they can jump that high .... they'll be too large for the bigger holes in the cyclone fencing above the 2 ft mark.