Need advice!! Allowing hen to hatch chicks (our first time doing so), and have location questions

[balletchickenmom]

Hi ya'll! ALL advice would be super helpful. Initially my boyfriend and I were going to incubate eggs for hatching, but then we got a broody hen and we decided to let her sit on them. The two of us have been going back and forth on the best way to let her have the chicks. We're probably on day 13 right now and I know that day 18 is sort of the lock down period. Our backyard coop isn't designed for hatching chicks (I've included pictures in this thread for reference-we built it ourselves), however, we have a lot of room in the run or our extension to add another little place for her to raise the chicks. My questions here is:
1) How long does it take for the chickens to hatch once they start? And will they just remain under her for a certain period of time before they venture out of the nesting box?
2) Does mama drink/eat during this time and do the babies as well? Our food and water feeder is located in the run. My boyfriend is super concerned about the mess of the chicks, we had a brooder last year with some TS chicks and he is worried about how gross they'll make the coop with their chick droppings, I am not as concerned about this part-I'm more concerned on best place for her to hatch and then potentially raise the chicks. I personally would rather her do the job then to have them in our house again for a couple of weeks haha.
3) Should we move her while she's incubating the eggs (before they start to hatch) to another structure or will that mess her up and will she go off the eggs? Or leave her...
4) If we leave her in the coop, I'm more worried about other chickens attaching the baby chicks, we have one hen who is a little nippy at newbies in the flock. As you can see, the nesting boxes (peep mama) are close to where the chickens roost in the evening.

Thanks in advance!

 

[cscigu]

I also had a question about hatchings. In the past, I've tried to move the hen/eggs about 2-3 times, and they've always abandoned the nest. Just my experience.

Ours run loose mostly, and seem to always lay (then brood) in an elevated place. I've worried that upon hatching chicks will fall.

I've ended up discouraging the broody hens, and just incubating some when I feel ready.

 

[Livia Ammon]

It usually takes about 24-48 hours from start to finish of the hatch, as the new mom will usually take her babies out to eat around then, and any left will die or have already.

During while the babies are hatching, they don’t eat well, but the babies have energy reserves for just this reason, so that they can hatch and wait for their brothers and sisters to hatch. The mom is a big girl, so she’ll tough it out for a couple days and eat afterwards.

Chick droppings aren’t very bad, mostly because they are very small, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

At this point, I wouldn’t personally move her for fear of disruption, but I don’t have a bunch of experience in the moving broodies side of things.

The other chickens will try to bother the chicks, but the mama should protect them, and if she does, usually the others accept them as flock members. There’s a lot that depends on if you got a ‘good’ broody or not.

 

[balletchickenmom]

It usually takes about 24-48 hours from start to finish of the hatch, as the new mom will usually take her babies out to eat around then, and any left will die or have already.

During while the babies are hatching, they don’t eat well, but the babies have energy reserves for just this reason, so that they can hatch and wait for their brothers and sisters to hatch. The mom is a big girl, so she’ll tough it out for a couple days and eat afterwards.

Chick droppings aren’t very bad, mostly because they are very small, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

At this point, I wouldn’t personally move her for fear of disruption, but I don’t have a bunch of experience in the moving broodies side of things.

The other chickens will try to bother the chicks, but the mama should protect them, and if she does, usually the others accept them as flock members. There’s a lot that depends on if you got a ‘good’ broody or not.

She seems to be a good broody hen, she doesn't seem bothered by me though so I wonder about her protection skills? That may change when the chicks hatch. She is a Silver Laced Barnvelder who aren't notorious for being broody but I read that when they do go broody and become moms are known for being good moms. We got her when she was 2 so I'm not sure if she's been a mom before, but she's probably around 4ish now.

 

[Livia Ammon]

She seems to be a good broody hen, she doesn't seem bothered by me though so I wonder about her protection skills? That may change when the chicks hatch. She is a Silver Laced Barnvelder who aren't notorious for being broody but I read that when they do go broody and become moms are known for being good moms. We got her when she was 2 so I'm not sure if she's been a mom before, but she's probably around 4ish now.

I don’t know if there is a good way to tell beforehand if she’ll take good care of her babies. Just trial and error, I guess

 

[DonyaQuick]

1) How long does it take for the chickens to hatch once they start? And will they just remain under her for a certain period of time before they venture out of the nesting box?

A couple days unless the hatch is not synced up well. Once chicks hatch, mama will usually stay put for a day or two; varies between hens and will be affected by food/water availability.

If you haven’t closed off the nest, you need a way to keep track of the eggs to ensure a well timed hatch of the eggs you intended. Otherwise new ones can be either snuck in by other hens laying or stolen and taken to the broody nest by the broody herself!

2) Does mama drink/eat during this time and do the babies as well? Our food and water feeder is located in the run. My boyfriend is super concerned about the mess of the chicks, we had a brooder last year with some TS chicks and he is worried about how gross they'll make the coop with their chick droppings, I am not as concerned about this part-I'm more concerned on best place for her to hatch and then potentially raise the chicks. I personally would rather her do the job then to have them in our house again for a couple of weeks haha.

She *should* but that doesn’t always mean she *will*! Some broodies will starve/dehydrate themselves. One of my better broody moms is a little prone to that so I make sure she has food and water right by her nest and I take her out daily if I don’t see her do it herself. Other broodies have a good routine of coming out daily to do their business.

Keeping the nest clean is very important during incubation. It’s easier to do in an isolated place with just the broody. Personally I have found chicks don’t make anywhere close to the level of mess of adults in a coop…Sounds like maybe the initial brooder was too small or not cleaned often enough.

3) Should we move her while she's incubating the eggs (before they start to hatch) to another structure or will that mess her up and will she go off the eggs? Or leave her...

Moving means better supervision and control over eggs in nest, but risks broody breaking. I move my broodies with fake eggs before giving them fertile eggs and wait a day or two to ensure they sit.

Easiest way to move a broody is to put a sturdy, removable nest box in her preferred brood spot with fake eggs and get her to brood there, then cover the whole thing with a towel and move her where she needs to be for the rest of the incubation. This is what I do each time.

4) If we leave her in the coop, I'm more worried about other chickens attaching the baby chicks, we have one hen who is a little nippy at newbies in the flock. As you can see, the nesting boxes (peep mama) are close to where the chickens roost in the evening.

Other hens are a definite risk. Some hens like chicks, some tolerate them, others want to kill them. You won’t know which ones react which way until they see the chicks. I always hatch in a protected place that other adult birds can’t access for that reason.

 

[balletchickenmom]

A couple days unless the hatch is not synced up well. Once chicks hatch, mama will usually stay put for a day or two; varies between hens and will be affected by food/water availability.

If you haven’t closed off the nest, you need a way to keep track of the eggs to ensure a well timed hatch of the eggs you intended. Otherwise new ones can be either snuck in by other hens laying or stolen and taken to the broody nest by the broody herself!


She *should* but that doesn’t always mean she *will*! Some broodies will starve/dehydrate themselves. One of my better broody moms is a little prone to that so I make sure she has food and water right by her nest and I take her out daily if I don’t see her do it herself. Other broodies have a good routine of coming out daily to do their business.

Keeping the nest clean is very important during incubation. It’s easier to do in an isolated place with just the broody. Personally I have found chicks don’t make anywhere close to the level of mess of adults in a coop…Sounds like maybe the initial brooder was too small or not cleaned often enough.


Moving means better supervision and control over eggs in nest, but risks broody breaking. I move my broodies with fake eggs before giving them fertile eggs and wait a day or two to ensure they sit.

Easiest way to move a broody is to put a sturdy, removable nest box in her preferred brood spot with fake eggs and get her to brood there, then cover the whole thing with a towel and move her where she needs to be for the rest of the incubation. This is what I do each time.

Other hens are a definite risk. Some hens like chicks, some tolerate them, others want to kill them. You won’t know which ones react which way until they see the chicks. I always hatch in a protected place that other adult birds can’t access for that reason.

Thank you for all of this!! That was super helpful. Interesting idea for moving the broody hen. Question on your process, so I've been keeping track of the eggs she's been sitting out and our other hens (minus one) have been pretty good about not laying in the same box as her brooding. I've been putting fake eggs in the other boxes so they go there. Since I'm on day 13, if I replace her eggs with fake ones to get her used to a new nest, what would I do with the other eggs that have been incubating?

We have an old dog crate that we've used to separate chickens before when we've added new ones into the flock, it is pretty dark etc. If I moved the nesting pad she's been sitting on into an external nesting box and put that in the crate will that help and work? We can attach another pen next to it (in our extension) and put water and food out for her. This is starting to seem like the best option, and she would still have her other hens around her cause she'll see them socialization wise. I'd love to integrate your method with moving her into an external brooder from the coop.

I will say, that she seems pretty determined, which gives me hope she wouldn't abandon the nest. I have had to nudge her off a few times so she eats and drinks water, and once I had left some eggs in another box and she got confused and sat on those for a hot second before I caught her haha. So I'm hoping that means she'll be okay in a new spot? She was fine when I moved her back to the correct box haha.

 

[Perris]

1) How long does it take for the chickens to hatch once they start? And will they just remain under her for a certain period of time before they venture out of the nesting box?

It takes a chick 21 days from start of incubation to hatch, ordinarily. Whether or not the whole clutch hatches at the same time depends on whether or not they started together, i.e. whether or not eggs were added at later dates. Most chicks will stay on the nest until mum leaves. A chick that hatched first may leave in desperation for food and water while the mum is still on the nest waiting for late hatchers.

2) Does mama drink/eat during this time and do the babies as well?

No. The hen prioritizes keeping the conditions right for the hatching chicks by sitting on them. The chick's needs are supplied by the absorbed yolk for 2-3 days after hatching.

3) Should we move her while she's incubating the eggs (before they start to hatch) to another structure or will that mess her up and will she go off the eggs? Or leave her...

I would not move her now. Where she is looks fine to me.

4) If we leave her in the coop, I'm more worried about other chickens attaching the baby chicks, we have one hen who is a little nippy at newbies in the flock. As you can see, the nesting boxes (peep mama) are close to where the chickens roost in the evening.

Highly unlikely. No adult bird here has attacked a chick here, and I have had 10 broodies and numerous chicks since 2019. Chicks hatched within the flock are not like 'newbies' introduced by you from elsewhere; the flock members know the broody is sitting and will instantly recognize her chicks as members of the flock, not as outsiders like introduced birds.

 

[Perris]

Easiest way to move a broody is to put a sturdy, removable nest box in her preferred brood spot with fake eggs and get her to brood there, then cover the whole thing with a towel and move her where she needs to be for the rest of the incubation. This is what I do each time.

that advice might work for someone STARTING an incubation, but in this case the incubation is already 13 days in.

 

[balletchickenmom]

It takes a chick 21 days from start of incubation to hatch, ordinarily. Whether or not the whole clutch hatches at the same time depends on whether or not they started together, i.e. whether or not eggs were added at later dates. Most chicks will stay on the nest until mum leaves. A chick that hatched first may leave in desperation for food and water while the mum is still on the nest waiting for late hatchers.

No. The hen prioritizes keeping the conditions right for the hatching chicks by sitting on them. The chick's needs are supplied by the absorbed yolk for 2-3 days after hatching.

I would not move her now. Where she is looks fine to me.

Highly unlikely. No adult bird here has attacked a chick here, and I have had 10 broodies and numerous chicks since 2019. Chicks hatched within the flock are not like 'newbies' introduced by you from elsewhere; the flock members know the broody is sitting and will instantly recognize her chicks as members of the flock, not as outsiders like introduced birds.

This is helpful! Thank you. Unfortunately the coop is not set up to have food and water for the chicks..They would have to leave the coop which is raised (we have a ramp) but it may be challenging getting off. All of the food for the chickens in our set up is in the run. My partner doesn't want the chicks in the nesting boxes or coop because the mess they may with the food/water and their droppings.