My little black hen that went broody finally hatched 2 babies. I had to steal eggs from another pen, as the eggs she wanted to sit on were duds when she went broody. (no rooster in her pen).
I wondered how babies would do in a pen with older chickens. Since the older chickens will actually kill the little ones if you just put new ones in there. The response from the mother hen is altogether different if she has sat on the eggs and hatched them, than it is if you just put new babies into a pen, that she didn't hatch.
So far, it's so cute. The little black hen who was broody is so protective of the little ones. She scurries all around, hovering over her babies to protect them from the other chickens. They are so cute peeking out from under her wing feathers. A mother hen and her babies are so fun to watch. Now I can see where the term "hovering, like an old mother hen" comes from.
I moved her and her babies to the brooding pen for their safety. They seem to be quite happy there, with the mama just clucking and minding her babies, and them running around under her shadow trying to do everything she does.
Broody hen hatched 2 babies
I'd love to have that; sounds wonderful. Congrats, Peggie!
There's this lovely kids' book about Easter called "Petook" that describes a mother hen and her chicks in the loveliest way.
Peggie-congrats! Aren't chicks fun? I had two hens sitting on two nests together in one coop. they hatched 23 eggs between them, and they are about 3 weeks old now. They look so funny when they grow feathers in clumps all over their bodies.
Since there are so many babies which are starting to get big now, I took the two mother hens and put them in the adjoining coop with my other 6 laying hens, where they were before the nesting. The old gals picked on the two mother hens, and the mother hens were digging at the ground under the fence between them and their babies. They actually got several babies into the big coop and the other hens would peck at them. After several hours I put the mama hens back in the nursery coop. Everybody was happy.
I don't think we can integrate the chicks in with the hens until the chicks reach their adult size, without them being pecked to death by the older hens. It is too bad it has to be that way, but I haven't found any way around that.
It seems to work a lot better if 1.) the mother hen is one in the top of the pecking order and 2.) if the chickens have a very large area with plenty of distractions (foraging opportunities, bushes, places to perch, etc.).
It depends a lot on the disposition of the other chickens. We just had 9 banty babies hatch and the pigeons were the ones who attack them and killed one. The mothers were wild and crazy so I now have 8 baby chicks in the utility room in a large bird cage inside the 4' X 3' cage our pet bunny Sheldon lives in. Hopefully these babies will be more calm and gentle than their mothers. Those hens have been wild and crazy since day one even tho they lived in the house all of the first 5 months of their lives. They had been hatched the first week of Nov. and it was cold that year. Their mothers fought each other so I threw them back outside in less than a week and raised the babies myself. They never did tame down.
I use a very small heater to keep little chickens warm so they can get use to having a night and a day. I feel so sorry for chicks that have lights on them because they never get a night.
Here's something crazy !!!! The broody hen and her 2 chicks managed to escape from the brood pen, out into the big pen with all the other chickens. It's funny, none of the other chickens even bother to give her or her babies a second look. She has become so agressive, they're all terrified of her. She never was at the top of the pecking order before, but she sure keeps them all on the run now.
That's kinda funny, but that's not the funniest part of this story.
I went out to check on her and the chicks since they were in the big pen, and I could see her sitting up on a roost about 4 ft. off the ground and one of her babies was on the ground. I looked for the second one, but he was nowhere to be found. I instantly got a sinking feeling that something bad had happened to it. But just then she turned her body a little, and I could see the tiny little thing peeking out from under her wing. She had him all the way up on the roost, under her wing. How in the world did she get up there with him under her wing ????????????? She had to flap her wings to jump up that high, she's just a bantam. CRAZY !!!!!!! That just baffles me.
Seems the longer I have chickens, the more they do that surprises me.
They always have some new thing going on. They never cease to amaze me. I'm still shaking and scratching my head about this one.
That is a puzzler. It must have been well attached to her back or something.
Hey Y'all, Peggie did you see the Pic of hard rock on his Mama 's back? That little critter still roosts there! Ive seen him ride on her out in the chicken yard! Some of these little fellas just have the "Mamas baby Syndrome " and stick with Mama longer than others. They Do things you wouldnt believe possible to keep up with Mama!
here he is still hanging on after 6 weeks!
That's just crazy ! How high is the roost that mama is standing on ?
That's how my little chicken was with his mama, except peeking out from under her wing. I'm glad you got a picture of yours, it's cute as can be.
You're right, they can accomplish some awesome things to stay with mama. The funny thing too, half the time, she's not really his mama, somebody else left the egg. Chickens are such funny animals.
Ok ! Now I know how my little fella got up on the roost with his mama.
In earlier post I mentioned that he was way up on the roost, under his mama's wing, but I couldn't imagine how he got that high.
I saw him do it last evening. He jumps up on her back before she gets up there. Just like Hard Rock in the other posts with his mama. Craziest thing ya ever saw. He seems to know when she is about to get up onto the roost, and it takes him a few tries, but he gets on her back, and up they go. Amazing.