Should I just leave my hen to take care of her new baby chick?

Question

My hen just hatched one egg. We have a new addition now to the two hens and a rooster. Is there anything i should do or just leave the hen to care for the baby. Are they like other birds and feed thier baby and will the other hen and rooster leave the baby alone? Its sooo cute and i dont want to do anything wrong. thanks for your help

Answer 1

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Answer 2

  There is nothing for the Mother Hen to teach the chicks as they learn to scratch and eat on their own provided you make sure they have feed.

  I NEVER allow my Hen's to raise their young by themselves unless I have them seperated from the rest of my birds. . . there is the pecking order in place at all times and I am afraid that other hens will spend too much time pecking at my chicks and possibly kill the chicks.Not all Roosters are protective of chicks and could possibly kill them.

  I either seperate my Mother Hen with her brood from my other birds( I have a second pen/henhouse for this purpose) or I take the newly hatched chicks away from the Mother and raise them up myself until they are totally feathered out.

  When allowing my Mother Hen to raise up her chicks I feed only chick starter feed to both Mother and Chicks in their own pen.

   When raising my chicks myself I feed them the same starter feed until they are all feathered out at which time I put them outside in their own pen and then I mix 2/3rd starter feed with 1/3 scratch (mixture of grains).

    Once they start to gain in size I lessen the Starter feed and feed them my regular Hen feed which is 1/2 Layer Crumbles and 1/2 Scratch.  At about 6 months old I will add Oyster Shell to their feed which will help strenghten the shell of the eggs they will start laying.

Answer 3

A chicken will raise it's babies much better than you or I could. The rooster will in fact protect the hen and chick. (I have had roosters run a dog off that was sniffing around a hen and her chicks.) The other hen will leave it alone but some hens do help other hens protect their chicks. I raised a flock of Polish this spring. It doesn't feel like home to me unless there is a chicken in the yard. (I told them I didn't want to live in the city) Good luck with your new addition.  

Answer 4

Yes she should be able to take care of it herself.  Just make sure there is fresh food and water available and that they have shelter.

Answer 5

Just let her take care of it.. If you touch it she may think you are taking it away from her.. it is instinct to her to know how to care for a baby.. So they baby won't be harmed=D

Good Luck (Y)