An Observation

bigredfeather

Songster
11 Years
Oct 1, 2008
2,194
53
211
Yorkshire, Ohio
A week before I received my first shipment of CX chicks for my Fall batches, I found a broody BCM hen sitting on eggs in the barn. I checked on her one evening and all was well. The next day I found her dead with 9 chicks wondering what happended to their mamma. The only brooder I had set-up was for the soon to be received CX chicks, so I just put them in there. When the CX chicks came, I wasn't about to dedicate a seperate brooder just for the 9 chicks, so I just added the CX chicks in with the BCM. Normally I wouldn't do this, but I don't need anymore layers, so I'll end up butchering these when the time comes. Now for the observation. These 9 chicks are acting just like the CX chicks. They swarm the feeder when it's get filled, and will actually root out the CX chicks to get to the feeder. I've brooded DP chicks before and never noticed this type of behavior.

Any thoughts?
 
Sure does sound like Monkey see, Monkey do. Then again, it could be that the DP want to eat less more often, and the CX's are scarfing all the food down at once, so in order to get enough to eat, they have to do that.
 

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