Hen won't get off her one chick! HELP

[charliebee]

Hi there,
My Pekin Bantam 'Shirley' went seriously broody a while back. I tried really hard to break her broodiness but couldn't so bought her some eggs to sit on. To cut a long story short we only ended up with one egg which successfully hatched yesterday afternoon. The chick looks good and well but I'm not convinced Shirley knows what to do, she seems to be sitting tight on the chick and not showing it food and water! That's been 24 hours now. Should I intervene or will it still happen? Thanks, C

 

[eggbert420]

Chicks don't need food or water for 72 hours.

 

[dawn secord]

I put a very shallow bowl of water (1/2 inch deep so the chick can't drown) next to the hen and sprinkle some chick start on a paper towel next to the hen too. My chicks start peeping out and eating and drinking before my hens get up. I put these in reach of the hen so she can drink and nibble too - she shows the chicks. She also gets water and some nutrition that way too. Works for me every time. It is true that the chicks do not need food or water immediately - I still do the above though.

 

[dawn secord]

Here is a picture of what I do after the first day. You can see a purple bowl for a parakeet or bird cage hanging with chick start in it and then a chick water tower elevated on a brick on the upper right corner. I sprinked the chick start in the hay also. The hen is still not getting up and the chicks are 2 or 3 days old here but everyone can eat and drink. You can see the chicks finding the chick start in the hay. Hope this helps. I make sure the water doesn't get the hay wet. I build up hay around the edges of the nest box so the chicks can get in and out. I've had a chick stuck outside the nest box before because it fell out and couldn't get back in. With the hay built up like this the chicks can get in and out with the hen. She'll leave the nest at some point but go back in - the chicks can follow her this way.