chicks

[knat]

we've got a hen who has gone broody so have got some fertile eggs for her. However, having come backwith them shes out of the coop at the minute!!!! Is it ok to keep her and the eggs in the main coop? When the chick (s) are born should they go in a separate run on their own or with their mum? Do they still need a brooder? I'm very new to this as you will see from my questions!!!!!

The best thing to do is make a broody box. Just a wooden box with a low pop hole, and a small wired run. A rabbit hutch would do in an emergency. Add straw, eggs and hen to the box. I would take her off the eggs twice a day and shut her out in the run to eat drink and poo. Poo will look large and puffy. When the chicks hatch they can sleep in the box Under mum and peck around outside or in the open part of the hutch. They will need to be fed chick crumb and have a drinker small enough that they won't fall in and drown. I would keep them seperate until the chicks have full feathers. ( about 4 weeks) keep an eye out for chicks which have fallen out of the nest or box and become chilled, and if you find one, unless it looks totally stone dead, put it on a teatowel, over a hot water bottle. It is amazing how quickly they can perk up. Any that hatch and have splayed legs may be saveable if you loosely tie the ankles together, (just enough thread between to be able to walk a little) as soon as after hatching as you can. The bone take a little while to set so this might help the hips to form straight. It works sometimes, othertimes the chick will need to be culled.
Mum will know everything else to do.

thanks saggy - does the mum stay with them for the four weeks? How do you introduce mum back into the main coop?

Can add abox to the end of a run and close that small run off for them so this will be ideal. Thansk very much for the response.

Yes mum stays. She will decide when to ditch them. When putting her back i've always just put her and the chicks in the coop. You could always put the broody box where the others can see it.