BrisLittleCluck
Hatching
- Apr 14, 2015
- 3
- 0
- 7
Will our broody hen adopt the chicks I gave her last night?? Here's what's going on:
Four days ago, we bought 3 new chicks from the feed store. 2 were very new, 1 was a week old. The same day, I "figured out" that we had a broody hen. I thought it was a coincidence that she was in the nest every time I came to collect eggs, because this is our first spring with mature hens. That night she was sleeping in the nest and not roosting with the other hens. SO, I did my research and set up our large dog kennel as a nesting/brooding area for her. During the night, we removed her from her usual nest and gave her three eggs to sit on.
She was only noticeably broody (to me, the novice), for a couple days in her coop, then we let her get accustomed to her kennel/nest for 3 nights. I didn't want the chicks to be too old when introduced, so I did it last night. When I tried to place the chicks under her, she was biting -- more at me as the intruder than at the chicks. I nervously placed all three chicks in the kennel near her. I couldn't get the eggs out from beneath her without being bitten and having the chicks run out of the kennel to who-knows-where ... so I left them.
The chicks quickly huddled together at the front of the brooder and the hen stayed on her nest in back. They slept that way all night. (The tiniest chick even gets under the wing of the biggest chick.)When I came to check this morning, they were still not with the hen. She soon woke up, made some really loud clucking (like when she lays an egg), ate and drank, and has now laid down in the front of the brooder and the babies are all in her nest, peeping softly.
So they're pretty much staying away from each other. (She keeps looking back at them to see what they're doing.)
Was my hen broody enough?
Are the chicks too old / afraid of her?
Should I still leave them together, or raise the chicks myself?
Not sure what to do.
Four days ago, we bought 3 new chicks from the feed store. 2 were very new, 1 was a week old. The same day, I "figured out" that we had a broody hen. I thought it was a coincidence that she was in the nest every time I came to collect eggs, because this is our first spring with mature hens. That night she was sleeping in the nest and not roosting with the other hens. SO, I did my research and set up our large dog kennel as a nesting/brooding area for her. During the night, we removed her from her usual nest and gave her three eggs to sit on.
She was only noticeably broody (to me, the novice), for a couple days in her coop, then we let her get accustomed to her kennel/nest for 3 nights. I didn't want the chicks to be too old when introduced, so I did it last night. When I tried to place the chicks under her, she was biting -- more at me as the intruder than at the chicks. I nervously placed all three chicks in the kennel near her. I couldn't get the eggs out from beneath her without being bitten and having the chicks run out of the kennel to who-knows-where ... so I left them.
The chicks quickly huddled together at the front of the brooder and the hen stayed on her nest in back. They slept that way all night. (The tiniest chick even gets under the wing of the biggest chick.)When I came to check this morning, they were still not with the hen. She soon woke up, made some really loud clucking (like when she lays an egg), ate and drank, and has now laid down in the front of the brooder and the babies are all in her nest, peeping softly.
So they're pretty much staying away from each other. (She keeps looking back at them to see what they're doing.)
Was my hen broody enough?
Are the chicks too old / afraid of her?
Should I still leave them together, or raise the chicks myself?
Not sure what to do.
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