A "I wonder what if" moment.

[LPeaslee]

Several weeks ago, I had a Silkie that hatched in April go broody and was siting on one of her eggs. Two weeks prior to that I re-homed a Polish and two Silkie roosters. So we did one of those "aww what the hell" things. I pulled 6 of my oldest eggs that had been in the refrigerator for a week and put those in the nest.

Today we got quite the surprise. Four have now hatched!

I think we will name these, Freezer Burn, Ice Cube, Popsicle, and ConeHead.

 

[sourland]

The will to live is strong - congratulations.

 

[Aphrael]

Awwww. So cute.

Congrats!

 

[LPeaslee]

I didn't expect this to work and I'm not sure if I should leave the chicks in the coop, or move them the brooder. I don't keep food or water in the coop, that's all in the run. Any advice?

 

[Aphrael]

Mama should take care of them no matter where you decide to house them. If you cannot provide food and water for them inside where the others can't get to it for a couple days (just until mama is ready to take them outside) then I'd say move them all to a separate enclosure. I have large broody boxes set up in my coop, and I usually just block the opening and provide food and water in there for the first day or two. As soon as mama seems ready to take the kids out for their first field trip, I remove the block and let them out. After that I make sure I have feed and water where the chicks can get to it whenever they want but the adults can't get to it. (This could be something as simple as a cardboard box with chick size holes and the food and water placed inside.)