- Apr 23, 2009
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We have 6 chickens from last years' incubator (1 roo, 4 hens laying, 1 broody mama with 3 babies started incubator with 3 doz eggs hoping for a dozen layers) and 33 chicks from this years' incubator hatched around March 25 (started with 41 eggs).
Our coop has 3 rooms and big chickens sleep in the left room where both nesting boxes are. Until last night, our broody was sleeping in one of the nesting boxes with her 3 babies (born around April 16th).
Three nights ago we moved all 33 seven week olds from our basement into the coop. Dh especially built 2 roosts for them in the middle room. The last two nights they were settling for sleep all over the coop, in all three rooms, including some of them being on new roosts, but some at the top of the coop at the roof and many other places. I've been moving some of them for the night to sleep on the new roost.
So last night when I went to count and move them, I counted only 32 chicks. And where do you think the last one was? I found her/him under the wing of broody!! She decided to spend the night roosting instead of in the nest like she usually was doing with her 1 month old babies. So now she was sitting on the roost in the big chickens room, with 3 babies under one wing and this big one under the other! And she is the one who scares other chicks during the day she did not even want to let them into the coop last night I stood in the walkway to the big chickens room not letting her leave it to scary away the big chicks who were going inside behind me.
Interesting, that last night as many chicks as could fit were sitting on a shelf in the big chickens room. They did not dare to sit on the roost with big chickens (except for that one under broody's wing), but came pretty close to big chickens to sleep on that shelf. I moved some of them to the roost in the adjacent room (the roost had 9 chicks already), which also stopped the noise as there was not enough room on the shelf for everyone who wanted to sleep there.
Another interesting thing that night when we were moving chicks into the coop broody was sleeping in the next box with her 3. When we brought the first 8 chicks they were complaining, of course. So the broody ran from her box towards our lights like crazy she probably thought we are doing something to her chicks (that were, of course, in the box she just left). I am not sure if she is still replying to big chicks chirping, but she surely did at first.
I am definitely having fun!
Our coop has 3 rooms and big chickens sleep in the left room where both nesting boxes are. Until last night, our broody was sleeping in one of the nesting boxes with her 3 babies (born around April 16th).
Three nights ago we moved all 33 seven week olds from our basement into the coop. Dh especially built 2 roosts for them in the middle room. The last two nights they were settling for sleep all over the coop, in all three rooms, including some of them being on new roosts, but some at the top of the coop at the roof and many other places. I've been moving some of them for the night to sleep on the new roost.
So last night when I went to count and move them, I counted only 32 chicks. And where do you think the last one was? I found her/him under the wing of broody!! She decided to spend the night roosting instead of in the nest like she usually was doing with her 1 month old babies. So now she was sitting on the roost in the big chickens room, with 3 babies under one wing and this big one under the other! And she is the one who scares other chicks during the day she did not even want to let them into the coop last night I stood in the walkway to the big chickens room not letting her leave it to scary away the big chicks who were going inside behind me.
Interesting, that last night as many chicks as could fit were sitting on a shelf in the big chickens room. They did not dare to sit on the roost with big chickens (except for that one under broody's wing), but came pretty close to big chickens to sleep on that shelf. I moved some of them to the roost in the adjacent room (the roost had 9 chicks already), which also stopped the noise as there was not enough room on the shelf for everyone who wanted to sleep there.
Another interesting thing that night when we were moving chicks into the coop broody was sleeping in the next box with her 3. When we brought the first 8 chicks they were complaining, of course. So the broody ran from her box towards our lights like crazy she probably thought we are doing something to her chicks (that were, of course, in the box she just left). I am not sure if she is still replying to big chicks chirping, but she surely did at first.
I am definitely having fun!
