Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

@Sussex19, how are your babies doing?
Very well!
They've been in the nesting box with mummy bird, (who, by the way was a little shocked to find that her chicks had a apparently hatched overnight without her noticing!) and today they had their first excursion into the garden.
I've been meaning to take some photos, but keep forgetting; I'll try to get some this afternoon.
 
Very well!
They've been in the nesting box with mummy bird, (who, by the way was a little shocked to find that her chicks had a apparently hatched overnight without her noticing!)
😂😂😂😂😂

At least she didn't kill all of them! How did u sneak them in? How many chicks did u succeed with in the end?

I STILL wish I had a broody...yeah that's right....what I thought was my hen going broody turned out to be a false alarm.....I'm hoping my future Wyandotte crosses will go broody.... :fl

and today they had their first excursion into the garden.
😻😻😻😻😻😻

So how do u manage mummy & kids regarding type of feed? Do you just give them chick starter for the entire mixed flock? 🤔
I've been meaning to take some photos, but keep forgetting; I'll try to get some this afternoon.
No worries darl anytime! 😊
 
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At least she didn't kill all of them! How did u sneak them in?
Well, to start with I knew that she's a very good mother, and last year when I was giving a different hen some chicks she almost stole them, so I thought she would be ok with it.
I just sneaked them under her with my hand covering the chicks so she couldn't peck them, and then watched them until I heard her starting to make mother hen noises.
If it had failed, I had a plan B in the shape of a broody Buff Orpington, who also would have taken them, I think.
I STILL wished I had a broody...yeah that's right....what I thought was my hen going broody turned out to be a false alarm.....I'm hoping my future Wyandotte crosses will go broody.... :fl
Oh dear, and I've got the opposite problem with 6 being broody in the moment....
So how do u manage mummy & kids regarding type of feed? Do you just give them chick starter for the entire mixed flock? 🤔
It depends, with these ones I'm not actually letting them mix with the others yet, as they are too valuable to me.
With the other chicks I will feed them chick starter whenever I'm around them, and they will share the main flocks grower. But I often don't need to feed them that much, because their mothers will find so much food for them, that they don't eat that much of the food I give them. But in the end I just do what works best for that particular hen and her chicks.
 
What you've done is brilliant...i.e. Hatching the chicks yourself & then letting mummy take care of them as I've read quite a few people saying that they often don't get good hatch rates using broodies but hatching them yourself solves the problem.
I am actually very pleased with how it worked out, as broodies are a bit inclined to break eggs sometimes. And it was partly your doing, as I had just been going to give the eggs to a hen, and might not have got nearly as good a hatch. So thank you very much for recommending that I get an incubator!
 
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I am actually very pleased with how it worked out, as broodies are a bit inclined to break eggs sometimes. And it was partly your doing, as I had just been going to give the eggs to a hen, and might not have got nearly as good a hatch. So thank you very much for recommending that I get an incubator!
No worries darl! Oh did u follow the shipped eggs instructions in the end anyway or did u improvise?
 
Well, to start with I knew that she's a very good mother, and last year when I was giving a different hen some chicks she almost stole them, so I thought she would
🙀😂😂

Oh dear, and I've got the opposite problem with 6 being broody in the moment....
Gee I wish I could "borrow" one of your broodies!! 😂

Are they mostly White Sussex or BuffO?
 

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