? about momma and peeps

[LadyLuck]

1. Peep #1 hatched today (or last night), the other eggs don't show any signs of pipping. How long do I wait--or how long will she wait? what about food and water for baby while she waits?
2. Also, the other hens do push her out once a day to use that box for laying (I marked the eggs she was setting and just removed the unmarked eggs) If I don't get her and baby out right now, will the other hens squash baby in the morning when they try to go in to lay? Or will she put up a royal fight now that she has a peep?
3. I will put mom and peep(s) in their own private coop and run for a little while, mostly because there is no suitable place in the main coop for teeny babies. I assume I will put layer food in for mom and baby food in for babies...I guess put the layer in a higher feeder so babies can't reach it?
4 When do I let her integrate the babies into the flock?
5. She hatched them out in a nesting box, but there is no safe way for peeps to get down from there (which is why I plan to move them). Do I need to do the move in the dead of night etc as I was told to do when I was planning to move her nest, eggs, and all? Or will she be ok as long as she has baby with her?
6. Am I over-thinking this and just need to trust her instinct?

I can't help it, I'm just giddy... I know it's silly, this is what chickens are meant to do, but it is just AMAZING to me that it actually worked. yesterday there was a pile of eggs, today there is a baby.

 

[ang3lb0y]

1. The hen knows instinctively when to stop trying to hatch her chicks. This could take anywhere from 2-5 days (more or less, depending on the bird). I wouldn't worry about food for the chick for at least 24 hours after the hatch (the chick still needs to obsorb it's yolk), you can try to give it water when the chick gets active (just remember not to drown it. It will move away when it's done drinking). You can take the chick out and put it back right after it's done its eating and drinking, but expect a fight from your hen, because unless it's pretty tame (knows your the caregiver, and trusts you with it's baby) then your in for a treat (sarcastically).
2. It might be best to make another nesting area for the other hens and block access to your broody. If not, she should fight the other hens, saying "Get away or I'll kill you"
3. Great idea
4. I would wait to introduce them until the chicks get big enough to fend for themselves. However, if you introduce them earlier, the mother should fight for her babies. She fights for her babies until they're old enough to fight on their own.
5. I would move them when all chicks have hatched, or when she becomes uninterested in the nest (except for the chicks obviously). Just remember, chicks are very bouncy, and will probably jump out of the nest and not break anything anyways, so I would wait until all chicks hatch before you do anything .
6. You "overthinking" is nothing to worry about. You are concerned for the well being of your chicks. Just don't do anything out of impatience. That's when most accidents occur.
*NOTE* if you "help" the hen do her duty too much, then she'll most likely get stressed, so only "help" in a critical situation.
Hope that helped.

 

[JanO]

The hen can stay on the nest with her chicks 2 or 3 days. That's usually when her instincts will tell her to concentrate on the chicks and to abandon the nest. I let mine stay put until they are ready. I figure her natural instincts are better for her and the chicks than my interferance. The chicks can last that long without food or water so it's better to let mama do her job.

The fact that she's allowing the other hens to use her nest while she's broody, and has chicks, is something that none of mine would ever allow. Is she a young hen? I've seen hens collect eggs by allowing others to lay in her nest a few days before they would get broody, but not after they settled down to incubate them and never with a chick. I'd keep removing the new eggs and if she doesn't abandon the nest soon, or no more hatch in a day or so, go ahead and take all of them and toss them out. They probably aren't going to hatch anyway if they haven't shown any signs yet.

When she takes the chick out of the nest she will more than likely let the rest of the flock know that they are not welcome around her baby. She'll keep the chick close and a short distance away from the rest of the flock to protect it. She may even find a spot that she feels is safe and spend a lot of time just covering the chicks to keep them warm and allow them to grow. Mama hens have a killer mentality when it come to their chicks and they are very good at making their intentions known. She'll teach it to scratch for food and find the water, etc. I just leave them alone so mama can do her job raising her chicks. However I have seen other hens try to kidnap chicks and try to keep them as their own. If that happens than definately give her seperate quarters for a couple weeks, than allow them to integrate back in with the flock.

 

[LadyLuck]

thanks so much. when we checked this morning before church, one egg had a pinhole pip, after church it had made a circle around and you could see in a bit, then when we got home from the inlaws dinner, another whole chick. I'm just giddy. this whole thing is just miraculous.

"Momma" is a little banty with scantly feathered legs and fluffy cheeks a la EE, and lays little blue eggs, so basically a little mutt. Baby #1 came from a brown egg, so one of our red sex links. Baby #2 came from a little blue egg so from one of the four banty mutts, but it has MANY more feathers on its legs than mom (whichever of the 4 of those hens laid that egg) did as a peep or even does now, so I wonder if its dad is one of the fully featherd legged banty cochin roosters.
Here's a pic of its hairy little legs:


Baby #1 is quite active and trying to crawl out of the nest box, so I made the rim higher (the bricks you can see). I will have to move her tonight because if baby falls out, it is quite a drop and really no easy way to make a platform or ramp or anything.

To answer the question above, mom is young, not even a year old, she was a peep in June 2012. She did let (or was too small to fight?) the other hens into the box when she was setting the eggs. I don't think anyone has been in since the first hatch though, at least there were no extra eggs.

OH, another question- what is the best non-toxic way to mark the eggs? I used pencil and it would wear off in just a few days and I had to re-mark them several times to tell the difference between the setting eggs and eggs that were laid by someone else that day.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you put a medium dog crate in your coop? Stick Mom and chicks plus eggs in their, and she may fuss a bit, but will get those babies under her. Tomorrow I would dip chick's beaks into water and food, then leave it in the cage on bricks. They will help themselves when they need it. In a few days, toss any unhatched eggs and open the gate. She will bring them out when she feels like it--maybe up to a week. If you feel uneasy you can close the gate at night, then reopen in the morning.