[suep]

Hi all
I am new to chicken keeping and have 4 hens that play all day in my very large garden with my 4 dogs and 4 cats.
When my ginger hen first came home she was very happy and the first to come and see me when I went out into the garden to let me know that every thing was OK and I wasn't to bad at this chicken keeping after all. All the others then started to lay but not her till one day she looked very unwell .I realised she was egg bound and put her into a warm bucket of water and sat with her for hours till she delivered TWO eggs with a little help (I never thought I would be putting my finger into such a personal place with a chicken).
She went on to be a very good layer until about three weeks ago when she went broody. I did try putting her out of the house to get on with life but this hen dose things her way !!!
I gave in and got her two fertile eggs to hatch They should be hatching next week She is now in a puppy pen with her eggs but will not come out even to poop and is not drinking or eating .I dont know if the eggs will hatch as they are brown so I couldn't see if they had chick inside when I tried candling them.
How long should I leave her with the eggs if they haven't hatchet by the 20th day .
Is it ok to leave her in the puppy pen with her chicks.(its not very big )
Is it ok to leave the pen in the garden if the wether gets wet or could.
I think I am panicking a bit and realizing how little I know !!!!!

Please can someone help .

Sue

[joyfull]

lift her out once or twice every day so that she will poop, eat, drink and have a dust bath.
I would wait untill after day 23 before making any decisions on the eggs should they not hatch, the hen should be able to feel them moving under her and often if infertile will kick them out. For the first week or so they won't need much room, and if they have somewhere to keep dry should it rain then outside is fine (in the wild that's where they would be  ), just make sure it's well secure.

[Vember]

Hi Suep

The hen needs to come off the eggs at least once a day to go poop, eat and drink. If she isn't doing this herself then you will need to lift her off
You may then need to take her back to her eggs if she isn't used to the new house

Eggs usually take 21 days to hatch and some have been known to come out at day 23 so leave her for a good day or two
As for the puppy pen for the chicks it depends on the size of the holes, chicks are small and can wriggle out of the smallest hole, leaving them vulnerable to predators
Has the pen got a roof to stop magpies and the like getting in?

Mum knows best as to the weather she will gather them under her if she thinks it's too cold, an area for her to shelter under is advisable though

Lastly have you got all the other bits needed for chicks? Small shallow drinker, they can fall in deep dishes Also have you found a place where you can buy chick crumbs?

Sarah

[suep]

Hi
Thank you for getting back to me .I have just given her some cat food and she sis eating some of it now.
When she stops i will lift her out and take her to her dust bath.
The pen has a roof and is in the shad right next to the house so I can see her most of the time.
I will go to pet shop and get chic food today.
When the eggs came they got held by the post office for 1 day so do I count the days from when she first sat on them ?

Sue

[joyfull]

Hi Sue, yes the day that she starts sitting on the fertile eggs is day zero then you count upwards  .
One of my broodys was in a house attached to a dog cage and I got some small holed mesh to go around it up to a height of 18 inches (bit difficult to do round the door but managed it so that the door could still be opened) watch out for sharpe ends though.
With the water dish wild witchy gave me the advice of putting marbles or those glass pebbles you put in vases in and the chicks can drink in the small gaps around them - worked a treat and stops any risk of them drowning.
When my chicks got a little bit bigger I then added a secong cage to give them a bit more room.  Good luck and keep us posted, joyfullxx

[suep]

WOW I have just put her out and she didnt like it at first but then had a good scrach around eat some grass and then had a bath with the other hens she has now come back to her eggs looking happeyer than she has for days and is eating her food .Thank you sooooooo much .I would hate to lose her after all she has been through.
When the chick come should they bee on wood shavings or straw.She has always been on straw till now.

Sue

[joyfull]

mine were on straw in the nest and hemcore but some people advise putting a bit of sheeting material over the wood shavings for a few days to help prevent spraddle legs (I think) this can then be rolled up and you have clean shavings underneath.

[suep]

hi

sorry what is hemcore and spraddle legs .

I realy am to new to this to be a mum .I didnt think this one out first did I.

[agingchick]

Hi I am a new mum too I had to lift mine out and put her back in after 20 mins up to day 8 when she finally did both herself and now I am finally relaxing a bit well until they are due to hatch
Diane

[joyfull]

hemcore is a horsey bedding that is very absorband with citronella in it, more expensive than wood shavings but I think better. Non of my chicks have had spraddle legs luckily but it happens sometime, and putting material over shavings helps to stop it developing I think (also happens in incubator reared chicks sometimes), to try to treat it you have to wrap a piece of plaster or an elastic band around their legs to keep them pulled together. I supposed it's similar to human babies who sometimes have hip problems and have to have their legs braced until the bone stays in the joint properly  . Raising with hens is easier I think than in an incy as the hen seems to know what to do themselves, so relax and enjoy the experience