Letting my broody raise 20 meaties. Now I have a rooster raising 50 CX chicks~new batch!

Anyone else do this sort of thing with their meaties?  It was just a rare fortune that I had a broody at the same time that I saw some healthy Cornish X chicks at TSC.  Bought 20 of them and placed them under my broody last night and she thinks they are hers this morning. 

So....anyone else and did it turn out okay?  I free range my birds, so these meaties will be free ranged with the flock when they are fully fledged.  Until then, they will have a White Rock momma.

I took pics of her and the chicks this morning and will try to post them soonest.  It will be interesting to see how meaties do on free ranging and without free choice feed in front of them.  Anyone else did this and had good results?

I feed my free rangers in the evening before they go to bed and they usually have a small amount left over in the morning to start the day...other than that, they forage full time.

I keep you all posted with pics of their development.  Right now they are very active and coming out from under her in the early morning while it is still in the 30s here and they act like they are not a bit cold....eating, drinking and scratching about like the cold doesn't affect them!

As promised...a pic of my White Rock broody with her 20 adopted Cornish X chicks.  She is very happy and the chicks are thriving well without a heat lamp or other considerations....just feed, water and mommy!

I'll document their progress with pics so you all can see how they do on free range and a regular feeding schedule.  I do think I will have to get out one of my extra feeders to accomodate the extra big eaters in the flock but they will still only have access to it in the evening and early mornings. 

So far, their brooder pen is open air and it is around 40-50s here with temps in the 30s at night and Mama hen seems to be meeting their needs with keeping them warm. 

If you look closely you will see tiny orange legs under her belly where many little chicks are hiding....these pics were taken their second day here.  What you cannot see are the other chicks acting like the cold, windy day is nothing and running around eating and scratching.  They really are amazing when you think they came from a climate controlled environment with a heat lamp, and went into these cool temps without a hitch.