3 broodies sharing 2 chicks.....edit: now 3 chicks...pic

[NellaBean]

I have 3 broodies right now....1 barred cochin (large fowl) and 2 whiite leghorn x jersey giant crosses. The two leghorn crosses were sharing a nest and hatched one egg. The barred cochin had her own nest and hatched one egg. The babies run back and forth between the nest boxes, from broody to broody......and yesterday I caught all three broodies with the 2 babies at the feeder, the big girls eating out of the feeder and the babies scratching around underneath.

I have a 2nd barred cochin trying to go broody. She sits on her wooden eggs at night but also spends some time outside during the day.......I'm not sure if she got too close to the babies today, or tried to steal them or what..........but it was like a mixed martial arts cage fight in the coop today between her and one of the leghorn cross broodies. The other leghorn cross and the barred cochin were sharing a nest and had the two babies under them safe and sound and the other leghorn cross girl was just beating the snot out of the offending cochin.....it was ridiculous. I should call her Chuck Norris. Finally the other cochin ran out of the coop and the crazy leghorn cross went back and climbed into the nest on top of the other TWO broodies....So all three broodies were piled up in the same nest with the two little babies.

I think those are the safest chicks on the planet. I have some eggs due in the bator and if they hatch will slip them under these crazy girls.....they are fine with me handling the babies, but LOOK OUT if any other birds come near.

 

[aunt emma]

Hello Nellabean, I'm Emma, a new egg. We too are in east tn. Maybe you could help me with my continuing saga of "these chickens adopted me"! We began with 6 hens and 2 roos. I don't know what kind of chickens we have, they look kind of like french copper blacks, except in their faces. Well one day about a month ago we noticed a couple of hens missing. with the help of Byc I figured out they had gone broody, (these chickens free range between my house and 3 neighbors) two of our hens insisted on laying eggs on our front porch. So I decided to give them nest boxes but this was before they went broody, and I was thrilled to collect the little oval gifts they gave us. As I was saying about a month ago the hens began to go awol on us. We found one across in the neighbor's flower box, she laid 5 eggs and three hatched. One hen decided to use the nestbox on our porch, she laid 1 egg and never moved for 2 days. On day 3 or 4 I went out to check on her and she had her beak open panting it was so hot that day. I hung an old cloth shower curtain up to shade her and I made food and water dishes out of plastic cups that I attached to her nest with clothes pins. I was so worried about her getting too hot that I asked my husband to move her into the corner of the porch where it was shadier. This was a mistake because she climbed out of her nest and went and sat back on the porch where her nest originally was, so we put the nest back in the place she had chosen, but she was pouting and apparently stayed off her egg too long. We humored her and let her sit on that egg for 22 days, it was not viable, did not hatch (but at the time we did not know this) yesterday(day 22) we removed her egg and discarded it, today she is still sitting on her nest

I feel so sorry that she has gone thru all this for nothing! I was at the co-op this am and I almost bought her a chick to adopt as her own, but what if she doesn't accept it. I wonder if my other mama hen would care for a "stranger" if I got one? I took her food dish out of her nest box but left the water today hoping it will encourage her to get off her nest and forage for food and just be a hen as usual. We do feed them everyday in addition to what they find for themselves! My mama wannabe did get up off her nest long enough to stretch, eat and poop, then she'd come right back on her nest. Poor baby I want to pick her up and hug her, but she'd just peck the fire outta me, and most likely I'm thinking like a human and not a chicken!

 

[MakNat]

Just gather a day or twos worth of other fresh eggs and give her a handful! They're tougher than you think and when they go broody, they go broody!!!!!

 

[NellaBean]

Well, I had a single chick hatch out in the incubator on Monday....so I took it out this morning and gave it to the broodies. One of the leghorn mix girls hunkered down and clucked at it and it ended up climbing right underneath her with one of the other chicks she already has. Hopefully all goes well with them today. At least now they can each have a chick when they share

 

[NellaBean]

The addition of the new chick went well.....didn't hurt that it is identical to the two others. Here is a photo, taken from directly above them....of the 3 moms and 3 chicks....I had poured some chick food down for them.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Aw, wish I had some hens like that ...

 

[NellaBean]

I wish I had hatched more out before I got rid of the Jersey Giant rooster.......I gave one to my neighbor a few months ago. Wish I had given him one of the RIR crosses instead

I have one more teenager growing up from this cross.....hoping she is broodyish as well.

One of my dogs got too close and the cochin and one leghorn mix took the babies and the other leghorn mix went CRAZY on the dog. It was kind of hilarious. They have a good system to make sure those babies are protected.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Aw, that's too bad.

I bet your can order some hatching eggs and when they go broody again you can let them hatch them out.

 

[NellaBean]

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

That's so good that another chick hatched out!!!! YAY!!!!