4 month cockerel started crowing, his mom still takes care of him

[orelsi]

Some pics for posterity and because frankly we all love chicken pics

The solo black one is mom, the next pic is the mini-flock of her family (2 pullets up front and boy in the back, 4 months old here) and then some dust bathing action.

 

[lightm]

Some pics for posterity and because frankly we all love chicken pics

The solo black one is mom, the next pic is the mini-flock of her family (2 pullets up front and boy in the back, 4 months old here) and then some dust bathing action.

Thanks for sharing this interesting behavior! And they are adorable!

 

[lightm]

Some pics for posterity and because frankly we all love chicken pics

The solo black one is mom, the next pic is the mini-flock of her family (2 pullets up front and boy in the back, 4 months old here) and then some dust bathing action.

How are mother and youngsters doing now? Is she still taking care of them?

 

[orelsi]

Ok, update time!

Mom stopped being broody 3 days after the first pullet started laying. I believe someone predicted this earlier in the thread, so good job to you! It's like she said "ok my girl is laying now, I can get back to the flock". I wanted to wait a bit to see how everything else goes. Mom started laying several days after that. Now both of the pullets are laying and while their mom no longer takes care of them, doesn't cluck to them, doesn't find them food, etc., they still follow her around as a mini flock inside of the bigger one. It's pretty cute. They have mixed with the other hens on the perches, so everything seems normal.

Some numbers:
Days from hatching until mom left them -
175 or 5 months, 22 days, almost half a year of taking care of the chicks.
Days from starting her brood (1st day of her staying in the nest) until breaking it - 199 days or 6 months, 16 days. Off by 1 day for 200 lol!

Something else I found interesting. This hen is extremely noisy and "talks" to us constantly. You know the type. She answers with a sound every time we talk to her. EXCEPT while she is broody. She never "talks" to us people during that time, she only clucks to the chicks. Why? No idea. So she was silent and didn't make a single sound to any of us for 199 days. The moment she broke her brood on the third day after her pullet started laying she started "talking" to us immediately. How curios is that?

 

[Squawkers]

Ok, update time!

Mom stopped being broody 3 days after the first pullet started laying. I believe someone predicted this earlier in the thread, so good job to you! It's like she said "ok my girl is laying now, I can get back to the flock". I wanted to wait a bit to see how everything else goes. Mom started laying several days after that. Now both of the pullets are laying and while their mom no longer takes care of them, doesn't cluck to them, doesn't find them food, etc., they still follow her around as a mini flock inside of the bigger one. It's pretty cute. They have mixed with the other hens on the perches, so everything seems normal.

Some numbers:
Days from hatching until mom left them -
175 or 5 months, 22 days, almost half a year of taking care of the chicks.
Days from starting her brood (1st day of her staying in the nest) until breaking it - 199 days or 6 months, 16 days. Off by 1 day for 200 lol!

Something else I found interesting. This hen is extremely noisy and "talks" to us constantly. You know the type. She answers with a sound every time we talk to her. EXCEPT while she is broody. She never "talks" to us people during that time, she only clucks to the chicks. Why? No idea. So she was silent and didn't make a single sound to any of us for 199 days. The moment she broke her brood on the third day after her pullet started laying she started "talking" to us immediately. How curios is that?

Thanks for the update!!

 

[lightm]

Ok, update time!

Mom stopped being broody 3 days after the first pullet started laying. I believe someone predicted this earlier in the thread, so good job to you! It's like she said "ok my girl is laying now, I can get back to the flock". I wanted to wait a bit to see how everything else goes. Mom started laying several days after that. Now both of the pullets are laying and while their mom no longer takes care of them, doesn't cluck to them, doesn't find them food, etc., they still follow her around as a mini flock inside of the bigger one. It's pretty cute. They have mixed with the other hens on the perches, so everything seems normal.

Some numbers:
Days from hatching until mom left them -
175 or 5 months, 22 days, almost half a year of taking care of the chicks.
Days from starting her brood (1st day of her staying in the nest) until breaking it - 199 days or 6 months, 16 days. Off by 1 day for 200 lol!

Something else I found interesting. This hen is extremely noisy and "talks" to us constantly. You know the type. She answers with a sound every time we talk to her. EXCEPT while she is broody. She never "talks" to us people during that time, she only clucks to the chicks. Why? No idea. So she was silent and didn't make a single sound to any of us for 199 days. The moment she broke her brood on the third day after her pullet started laying she started "talking" to us immediately. How curios is that?

Wow, so cute and unusual! What a mom!

 

[fluffycrow]

Ok, update time!

Mom stopped being broody 3 days after the first pullet started laying. I believe someone predicted this earlier in the thread, so good job to you! It's like she said "ok my girl is laying now, I can get back to the flock". I wanted to wait a bit to see how everything else goes. Mom started laying several days after that. Now both of the pullets are laying and while their mom no longer takes care of them, doesn't cluck to them, doesn't find them food, etc., they still follow her around as a mini flock inside of the bigger one. It's pretty cute. They have mixed with the other hens on the perches, so everything seems normal.

Some numbers:
Days from hatching until mom left them -
175 or 5 months, 22 days, almost half a year of taking care of the chicks.
Days from starting her brood (1st day of her staying in the nest) until breaking it - 199 days or 6 months, 16 days. Off by 1 day for 200 lol!

Something else I found interesting. This hen is extremely noisy and "talks" to us constantly. You know the type. She answers with a sound every time we talk to her. EXCEPT while she is broody. She never "talks" to us people during that time, she only clucks to the chicks. Why? No idea. So she was silent and didn't make a single sound to any of us for 199 days. The moment she broke her brood on the third day after her pullet started laying she started "talking" to us immediately. How curios is that?

What a great mother indeed! Hopefully she raises all future offspring with such commitment! Wonder if her children will adopt the same behaviour towards brooding (if they ever decide to brood).

As for why she stopped being talkative while she was raising her chicks, I have no experience of my own to share, only a theory. Mothers know that their offspring is quite vulnerable. It would make sense to keep quiet and avoid attracting any attention towards her, or her chicks. Doesn’t quite explain why she kept this behaviour up after the offspring became capable of flight and/or running to safety, but the principle still stands. While they’re under her care, it’s her instinct to make sure that most, if not all her brood survives. When her work is done, they have to figure out how to survive on their own.

Again, nothing but a theory on my part, since I only have one extremely talkative hen that goes broody, and she only quiets down a little. All my other broodies are extremely quiet to begin with

 

[orelsi]

As for why she stopped being talkative while she was raising her chicks, I have no experience of my own to share, only a theory. Mothers know that their offspring is quite vulnerable. It would make sense to keep quiet and avoid attracting any attention towards her, or her chicks.

That makes sense. A friend of mine has a similar theory that she wants the chicks to hear and react immediately if there's danger, so she keeps the voice for special occasions. If she talks too much they would get used to it, and might not react fast enough.