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sweet sitting hen and 3 wks old chicks- together?

post #1 of 3
4/25/12 at 8:35pm
Thread Starter 

We have 13  3 wk old chicks in our outside coop, We live in the south and it only gets down to 65 at night and they have a heat lamp on them, they have only been there 2 nights but they love the bigger enclosure run and 'flap their wings from one end to the other having a blast. They are so peaceful to watch. wee.gif

 

We have 5 hens sitting on eggs, one hatched 6 chicks today and the other hen is due to hatch next week. The hens that are sitting are at another property away from our home (about 10 minutes away), we would like to bring one of  the sitting hens home and put her in the coop with the 3 wk old chicks. there is plenty of room. highfive.gif

 

(We want to be able to see the hen hatch the chicks, does she help, move them around, or whatever, we just want to see that side of hatching, we have experienced incubator hatching, now we want to see nature do it) pop.gif

 

1. Will she continue to sit if we move her whole nesting box, at night, covered, to our home, it is 10 minutes up the road.

2. And will she peck at the older chicks, will she abandon her nest/eggs. or

3. do you think she will just continue to sit and if the other baby chicks come near she will put them in there place but not hurt them? (establish a pecking order)

 

Thanks for input- y'all are great!!!thumbsup.gif

 

The Gibbys

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post #2 of 3
4/25/12 at 9:09pm
Thread Starter 

th.gif

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post #3 of 3
4/25/12 at 10:17pm

Wow!

1. Moving a broody hen MAY break her brooding. We have moved three different broody hens from one area in our barn to another. One didn't want anything to do with her eggs after the move, she was done. She killed one chick, and the rest of her eggs went to the incubator. All but one survived. One hen was OK. She is our best broody for the eggs that she hatched and a few that we added on the sly. The last one we moved had a great big, huge half-hour hissy fit, then calmly walked to her new area, sat on her eggs, and stayed with her eggs through the hatch and has been a good mama. A 10 min car ride, stressing about the move, her eggs - that is a lot for a broody.

 

2. & 3. Possibly. Neither of the broody hens that stayed with their eggs will have anything to do with additional chicks that we incubated in the incubator. Even with DH or myself in the broody coop the best broody will "count" her clutch, touching each one, then go after the others that escape their area. (We have our brooder pen divided in three areas) Both broody hens accepted chicks that they did not hatch, but the chicks were the same age and placed on the sly. One of us distracted the hen while the other placed the chick behind and beneath the hen. There was a limit for the first one, after that she knew which ones were hers and attacked any others. I don't mean a gentle peck, I mean, stunning the chick and going for blood.

 

Three week old chicks are active, large, and if they have not been with a hen it is hard to imagine what could happen. They will be curious and a broody hen can be moody. Just hatched chicks are frail and mama hen moves very gingerly with them. If she feels threatened by the larger chicks, I'm picturing ugly possibilities.

 

I understand wanting to experience the broody hen hatching and caring for her chicks. It is fascinating. Could you divide the brooder area so that the older chicks could scurry to a safe place if the broody doesn't want anything to do with them? Have a back up plan if something doesn't go well.

Let us know what you decide and how it went.

1 handy lovable hubby, 2 talented, loving sons, 2 precious daughters-in-love, 5 brilliant, beautiful, amazing grandchildren.

39 chickens, 6 turkeys and 5 guineas.


Blessed beyond measure, showered with blessings, standing on the promises.

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1 handy lovable hubby, 2 talented, loving sons, 2 precious daughters-in-love, 5 brilliant, beautiful, amazing grandchildren.

39 chickens, 6 turkeys and 5 guineas.


Blessed beyond measure, showered with blessings, standing on the promises.

Reply
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