Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!

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honeybee

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Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« on: April 11, 2010, 22:52 »
Well after asking here about hiring incubators to our suprise our broody has suddenly hatched a chick!

We are suprised because although we put eggs under her she moved off them once or twice to sit on the other hens freshly laid eggs and these ones went cold so i had to put her back on them so to be honest we didnt ever think they would hatch.

Help needed as we have never done this before, we have shut off the nesting area now so that the others cant get to her or the chick but any advice and help you can give me to help us keep this chick alive would be great.

How on earth do we sex it early?  How long till we can touch it?  What advice on keeping her and chick happy and healthy? etc etc

Thanks in advance

Fiona

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Kate and her Ducks

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2010, 23:24 »
Do you have chick crumb available to them? It is fine for mum to eat it too. Do they have water available? It needs to be in a shallow dish with marbles or pebbles in it as chicks can be prone to drowning. Are they protected from predators? A rat can easily take a chick. Where are you going to keep them overthe next weeks? Most of us keep a new mum and her chicks or ducklings in a protected broody run to keep them away from the others in the flock who can deliberately or accidentally kill the chicks especially if you have a cockerel.

Congratulations on your first chick.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2010, 00:22 by Kate and her Ducks »
Be like a duck. Calm on the surface but always paddling like the dickens underneath.

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joyfull

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2010, 07:42 »
As there was a chance that she may hatch something I am assuming that you had been out and purchased chick crumb, chick feeder and drinker. I also assume that you have got a safe house and run for her and the chicks - not only to keep them safe from accidents caused by the other hens but also safe from crows etc which will take a chick if they find it unprotected. If you don't have these then can I suggest you get to a pet suppliers this morning and purchase them (the feed and feeders, drinkers etc) you can make a simple broody ark ad run by using a dog cage and a smallish wooden dog kennel if you have one. If there are any more eggs under the broody and she is still sat tight then leave her and the chick alone - the chick will manage without food for a couple of days whilst the other eggs are hatching. I find with my broodies that I don't handle the chicks aas they can get quite upset. Once she gets off the nest then if the other eggs have not hatched then throw them away. Then move her and the chick/chicks into their broody coup, change their feed and water several times a day (they do like to sleep and pooh in their feed for some reason  :lol:). The broody will teach them to eat and drink and will keep them warm. Depending on your broody she may let you handle them or she may not - mine with her 6 at the moment won't let me and gets very agitated if I get too close so I just take photo's instead. Take lots of photo's as they grow so quickly - within a week of being hatched one of mine already has proper wing feathers and a half inch tail  :D.

Congratulations and we all look forward to seeing these photo's  :)
Staffies are softer than you think.

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joyfull

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2010, 09:12 »
forgot to mention -
Do not use straw or shredded paper in the broody coup as it can get tangled around the young chicks legs  :(

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honeybee

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2010, 21:27 »
i have chick crumb and we are improving with drinker at moment but following all rules and advice we can, chick staying under mum at moment but will hopefully venture out to try food and drink tomorrow, we think there is another egg still trying to hatch which is causing the delay.

i didnt know about the straw thing so as soon as this egg hatches we will remove any around her but trying not to disturb her too much at the moment.

i have tried to take pics when we see a glimpse of the chick but hopefully will get more opportunity soon, we have shut off the nesting section area for just her and the chick and created another nesting section for the others, they are happy at the moment so thats fine, we will get another house and run soon for the mum and chick so they are near the others but not with them.

how long do we keep mum and chick together? when do we seperate and try to re-intergrate mum and then the chick?  its all new to me so we are trying to do it correctly but after reading the books we did everything not advised with our broody as we handled her every day, still picked her up to remove other eggs and get her to eat etc and she has always been fine with me so fingers crossed thats a good sign.

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joyfull

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2010, 21:34 »
you don't seperate her from the chick. When the chick/chicks are about 7 weeks or so older she will start to tell them off and wander off on her own. Then she will go back to the old coup and they will either follow her into the coup or stay in the broody coup and cry pityfully. At this stage you can either place them in the proper coup or leave them in the broody coup. She will spend less and less time with them and will more than likely start to put them in their place just like any other hen lower than her in the pecking order.

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honeybee

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2010, 22:02 »
thanks for that, we are lucky that our main coup we built a run extention to with a hatch so we can seperate chickens so when she is ready to go back we can put her and the chick in the run today so they can all see and smell each other for a few days and see how they all do for reintergrating them.  I have heard some terrible stories about rejection, bullying and pecking with hens coming back into the group and new ones joining

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woodburner

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2010, 23:24 »
There may well be more chicks on the way, not sure how you manage moving mum and eggs to secure coop at this late stage.
I have never used anything else than straw for bedding and haven't had any trouble, it's usually pretty well flattened by the time the chicks hatch though. I also use silkies and have never had trouble with chicks getting tangled in the fluff either. I don't think it's worth getting panicked over.
I find that cockerels are actually better than hens at accepting chicks, but they are usually a few weeks old before I introduce them. I find the cockerels stop any bullying, too. :)
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honeybee

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2010, 22:02 »
Thanks so much to everyone who has responded and offered help, our chick seems to be doing well so far and mum and chick are happy and the other chickens dont appear to be bothered about any changes.  We have decided to add another coop to the other run for the others so we can keep them all near each other for smell and sight but in seperate houses and runs, this way we dont have to move the mum and chick.

any advice is great, when will the chick need to be out the house and having access to the run?  is there anything i need to watch out for?

just preying this little chick is a hen so we can keep it, i dont know how to put on pics here to show you just how cute it is  :)

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Nails

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Re: Help - our broody has just hatched a chick!
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2010, 22:29 »
Honeybee you need to go onto photo bucket, there is a thread on here on how to do it i'll find it and post on here.

Also thanks to all that have replied to Honeybee, i have learnt alot, i have a hen sitting on 18 eggs at the mo, and was not sure what i should be doing with her, but now i have a better idea, we have her separate from the rest now and have her own run waitng for her once she has atched these eggs.
Dont count ya chickens till they hatch!!!!!



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