Rescue Mama
In the Brooder
- Jun 30, 2016
- 6
- 4
- 22
Hello Chick Lovers, I'm brand new at raising chickens. My experience with chickens is completely brand new & totally by divine intervention. My girls & guy simply appeared on my property. No one claimed them or knew who they belong to. Knowing they needed a safe haven, we immediately started building a coop & run. During the process they lived in the tree tops & we lost 4 hens before completing their safe place
. We now have 2 hens & 1 rooster, Bantams. These birds are practically wild. They now know we are the provider of food & safe keeping, but we can not get with in a few feet of them much less pet them. We are honored that they free range during the day & we can feed them organically. The 2 hens quickly took to the hen house at night while the rooster still sleeps in the trees. I don't know if we will ever get him in the run/coop. It's been very difficult to find anyone who has had the same experience & who can help guide us with this unpractical way of obtaining chickens. I heard about this wonderful forum & have great hopes you all will be our guiding light. Our present situation; the girls have each layed 1 egg & have been brooding in nest side by side. One hen layed her egg 1-2 weeks apart from the other. We had 1 biddy hatch 2 nights ago. We have snake proofed the hen house, feeding the lil' one organic starter & giving fresh water as we have always done. Do we take the biddy from its mama & raise it in a tub in our spare room in our home with a heat lamp or let Mama Bird do her job? We would prefer to let Mama be a mama. However, several local folks have said once Lady Bird's egg hatches they will fight over the biddy's, while other folks say we should have trouble, they will raise them together. We do not have a place to separate the hens with their biddy's. We truly want what will be best for babies & the hens both physically & mentally. Thank you for reading & any advice you can give.
