princess-cluck Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Hey everyone, I'm new here and was just looking for some advice please on my recently hatched chicks. My lovely French Maran hen Cluck Norris has just hatched out 9 chicks from a clutch of 10 fertilised eggs that I bought. They all hatched throughout Friday day and are now roughly 2-3 days old, the last egg showed no signs of hatching so I removed it yesterday morning. My question is when will Cluck start leaving the nest box with her chicks? As the other egg was still in there I have been putting some water and food in the nest box for all of them, knowing Cluck wouldn't leave the unhatched egg for long. However now, even with the egg gone she hasn't left the box yet. I have been leaving food still but it's getting very crowded in there now the 9 chicks are more active! This morning I noticed the food had run out and rather than leaving the nest to find the feeder Cluck was frantically scratching at the wood shavings in the nest box looking for food, obviously I'm worried if a chick was in the way it could get hurt! Have I spoilt her by putting food and water in for them? Or is it still too early to expect her to be taking them out? It's my first time hatching chicks so I'd really appreciate some more experienced views on the matter please and thank you for reading my very long post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimnpaula Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 ~I haven't hatched or had chicks before so I'm just guessing here~ Does Cluck know that there is food and water available outside the box? Maybe you will have to lift her out of the nest and put her next to them to show her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller30 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Hi yes it wouldn't hurt to give her a gentle nudge out the door lol but then it won't hurt to leave her be as long as she has food and water she will soon take them outside also the scratching around frantically is normal as is stepping on chicks booting them out the way they are quite hardy I watched one broody pick her chick up and throw it over her shoulder obviously done something to annoy her leanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 first time broodies can be a bit slow to take the chicks out personally I remove the food and water from the nest box once the last chick is up and about and put the just outside the coop door I don't 'evict' them through as I like them to regard the nest area as a safe haven and not be scared to go back in. my main broody has always taken the chicks out of the nest area as soon as I take her of lock down and unless the weather has got really miserable keeps them out until bedtime. the one I've got on the go at the moment will spend most of the day inside but the chicks want to be out so she is either on her own or out with them their 3 weeks old and a bit to independent but their in a safe environment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princess-cluck Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Thank you all for your replies, I've followed your advice and removed the food and water now and they've all been out in the run today, Clucks been teaching them how to scratch in the dirt for bugs. It's so cute to see them scratching at the ground when they're so tiny! The only problem was that I had to help them back into the coop as they haven't figured out the ramp yet but I'm sure that'll come with time. I was probably worrying too quickly but being new to this I didn't want to do anything wrong so I'm really grateful for everyone's help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
