Well... we have more broody news....
we have a total of 5 broodies right now... Rosie has her 3 week olds... Frannie is due next week... Gracie is waiting for eggs and Connie and Bess hatched Friday night to Saturday morning.
... they each hatched 3 chicks
Connie and Bess were raised in the same clutch by one of our broodies last year. They were only 8.5 months old when they went broody themselves... Bess first, then Connie a week or so later. We gave them their eggs at the same time though and set them into their own little area...
This little corner allowed them more quiet time than the main coop area, but they shared it with Rosie and her chicks and the other birds would frequently visit to see what goodies the broodies were hoarding.
Eventually we had hatching and of course they were adorable...
Connie
Bess
As you can tell from the picture above the hens were close together and frequently we heard them 'chatting' back and forth during their brooding time...
Connie's little ones were a few hours ahead of Bess's and hopped out of the nest on their own a bit early to explore.
I guess the little blonde chipmunk figured she'd head to the neighbors to see if they had better snacks...
. Bess was happy to share... and the little black chick was trying to figure out if it was OK to play or not...
DH and I were glad to see the lack of aggression and lack of 'freaking out' with the hens... we knew both were calm birds... but broody hormones aren't to be underestimated.... their tolerance of each other's chicks was making it look like coop accommodations would be easier to figure out.
So... DH went out to open the coop this morning and check on the babies... and came rushing back in asking for the camera... so back out we went, camera in hand while he is telling me about finding.... this....
. I guess the easiest way to handle chicks roaming back and forth between nests is to just join nests!!
They were happy as can be with the chicks running around between the two of them!
But their area really wasn't very large, and since Rosie moved to the main coop area with her little ones we decided to move Connie and Bess to the broody hut. Thankfully these two hens are very cooperative and used to us silly humans doing things... so we moved them and all of the babies into the broody hut and within a few minutes we had this...
and now... hours later... they are still happy as can be... though Mindy is a bit bummed because her view isn't nearly as good now!
and DH says... 'if I'd known they were going to do this I would have gone to Tractor Supply and gotten them more chicks!'....
In the picture above Mindy is looking into our 'broody hut' which is built with a front wall which folds up and out of the way for easy cleaning and viewing, the pop door is built into that to allow Mama and chicks access in and out when we want them to be able to.
Yes...I often have them hatch on day 20 under a broody hen...I've read a number of other people who remark the same...I even read one article that stated hens tend to hatch in 20 days....presuming all are set at the same time and fresh eggs with favorable environmental conditions (not too warm or cold).
I love it!!Broodies can also double as jungle gyms when you have adventurous chicks...
After Frannie hatched the original pair of broodies decided that 3 was even better, so they moved into the broody hutch with her and her 5 chicks... (the previously mentioned wall/door is lifted up out of the way in this pic)
these two groups of chicks were hatched one week apart, but after a few days it didn't matter at all to anyone, all hens take care of any and all babies... I'm not sure if the chicks even realized who their actual 'hatch mama' was anymore.
In the right of this picture is the door/wall of the broody hutch, directly behind the hens is one of the entrance doors into the main chicken area of the coop
a better shot of the 'people/broody' area, with the 2 access doors to the chicken portion of the coop open behind them.
after a few weeks all 3 broodies are still tending the youngsters, though after the chicks were 2 weeks old they were in the main coop and free ranging daily with the entire adult flock.
I have one hen who hatches on day 20 every time.... she has set for 5 hatches and every one hatched day 20... chicks out and all.... A lot of my other hens will begin to hatch day 20, and finish by early day 21. I guess some hens just cook their eggs faster.
