First broody!

Hi and congratulations. Yes mum can eat chick crumbs, so just make sure that they have crumbs and water close by. Put marbles in the water if it's in a dish to prevent the chicks drowning and change the water and feed frequently as the little ones when they get mobile will pooh everywhere 

when i picked the brrody up while the eggs were under her she growled alot, now she grolwls and pecks me!!! 

Mummy hens like to protect their babies - I have a little bantam with 4 chicks who gets my wrist everytime even drew blood when I was'nt fast enough

Happy times.

My first broody girl has just hatched two chicks out this week and I'm also new to it mad chicken.
Mummy was bit moody and pecked me yesterday when i was changing water but today I cleaned the nest box out and she clucked and hid the chicks but there was no beak action!

The lil chicks seem settled and happy and I'm very proud of Mummy who took them out of hutch for the first time earlier.

thanks for the advice here, it has been much appreciated and i've felt reassured  :happy:

Our Light Sussex, Elizabeth started being broody last  March and messed around on and off till June.. We tried everything to put her off and when we shut the hen house door she tried to hurl herself at it so much that we had to let her in.  As we have no cockerel and didn't really want any more chickens we ended up getting some eggs from under a broody who had been sitting about a week. Returning from our holiday 2 weeks later we were stunned to find that our faithful chicken minder had refrigerated them 2 days from the due date!!   Still broody we swapped some courgettes for 3 possible hatchers who has a Polish 'Killer' cockerel, and  ex bat parentage. On our daughters 10th birthday 2 hatched and now we have Omlette and Ginger 2 weeks old We keep them in a mobile run but wonder how long before we can put them back with  our other Girls? I hope we dont have to go through it all over again next year!!