Safety of hatching chicks in the chicken coup?

[Newchickenguy]

Anyone ever hatched chicks in a chicken coup? My coup will have 1 rooster and approx 9 hens of different variteys. Will it be safe to let one of the hens hatch out a clutch of eggs? Like will the rooster and other hens kill the baby chicks when they hatch?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

It depends on how good a mama she is.

I like to separate the hen for about a week to let the little ones get faster so they can run under the mama better. At one week old they are pretty fast but when they are new they are soooo slow and don't have a clue.

But a lot of folks just leave her be the whole time. Make sure the chick won't drown in the waterer, and can reach the feed.

 

[donrae]

I like to leave them in the coop. Makes the whole thing ever so much easier, most of the time no one messes with momma! But you do have to keep an eye on them and give momma and babies somewhere to get behind a board or something to get out of the big girls' way. I'd be more wary of the other hens than the rooster, my roosters have been much more tolerant of the chicks than the older hens.

 

[gryeyes]

I let my broody hens keep their chicks, but I do check up on 'em frequently (as I can), especially when it's a new momma with her first hatchlings.

One broody hen sat on several eggs but got out of the nest with the first chick, leaving the rest of the eggs. Oh, okay, you're a mom no matter how many chicks you raise. All the others did better. Nobody messes with chicks with broody mommas! At least in my coop.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are living animals. I can’t give you any guarantees of what will happen with yours. But I’ve never had a problem with other chickens bothering the chicks. I have had the dominant rooster help Mama take care of her chicks. I’ve seen some hens get aggressive toward the chicks when they get a bit separated from Mama but the broody has such a bad attitude that that hen quickly learns to leave the chicks alone.

I’ve seen this happen a few times. A chick maybe 2 weeks old leaves Mama’s protection and goes to stand next to the other hens around the feeder, eating away. Sometimes the other hens ignore the chick, but it usually doesn’t take long for a hen to peck the chick to remind it that it is bad chicken etiquette for that chick to eat with its social betters. The chick runs back to Mama as fast as its little legs can carry it, with little wings flapping and it peeping to beat all. Mama ignores all this. But if that hen follows the chick to really teach it a lesson, Mama goes into a rage and quickly puts a stop to that.

You’ll see stories of disasters on here and I have no doubt many of those stories are true, but I’ve never experienced any and I’ve had a lot of hens hatch with the flock.

 

[aoxa]

I let my broody hens keep their chicks, but I do check up on 'em frequently (as I can), especially when it's a new momma with her first hatchlings.
One broody hen sat on several eggs but got out of the nest with the first chick, leaving the rest of the eggs. Oh, okay, you're a mom no matter how many chicks you raise. All the others did better. Nobody messes with chicks with broody mommas! At least in my coop.

Exactly what I do. Check on them often. Some broody mamas are not to be messed with, and these are the ones I like best. They will protect their babies to the end. Some don't. The ones that don't are separated until the babies can run/fly a bit and hide.