- Mar 17, 2014
- 238
- 15
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Has anyone seen, or had an experience with mother hens sitting on a nest until hatch, and then having her abandon the babies? I've never seen this & today when I went to my mother's house to feed chickens (I grow them out in a pen there b4 bringing home) I discovered a bunch of little day old chicks peeping loudly in my pen....as well as small groups randomly around the property. One was way far out in a side pasture (in the bull's pen) trying to take up with another mom with chicks (she wasn't having it though).
So after grabbing a bucket and pool noodle I went to challenge the bull to screw with me while I ran in and grabbed that baby, and then went around and collected the others. All lost & peeping trying to find mom. I found 9 & took them home & put them in a brooder under heat.
I've been trying to figure out if she abandoned them or if something happened to her. These come from a flock of "wild" old english game mixes on the property. These birds are always extremely good protective mothers, so I don't get it. Her nest was next to my pen & I looked for signs of blood or feathers and found none. I can't figure it out & I didn't see her today, though I'm not 100% what she looked like bc she was in bushes sitting all this time.
Has anyone else had a hen abandon babes before or does this sound like mom died protecting them from some sort of predator?
So after grabbing a bucket and pool noodle I went to challenge the bull to screw with me while I ran in and grabbed that baby, and then went around and collected the others. All lost & peeping trying to find mom. I found 9 & took them home & put them in a brooder under heat.
I've been trying to figure out if she abandoned them or if something happened to her. These come from a flock of "wild" old english game mixes on the property. These birds are always extremely good protective mothers, so I don't get it. Her nest was next to my pen & I looked for signs of blood or feathers and found none. I can't figure it out & I didn't see her today, though I'm not 100% what she looked like bc she was in bushes sitting all this time.
Has anyone else had a hen abandon babes before or does this sound like mom died protecting them from some sort of predator?