It is possible to let nature take its course.... Hens have been raising chicks with the flock for many centuries! Sure there is risk but natural is always best!
So I decided when my silkie hen went broody to let her raise some babies after several attempts to break her broodiness failed. We were having record hot weather n she was either panting in her nest box or pacing in front of the chicken door of the coop when I locked her out. Both of which were stressful for her and me both. I wanted to be responsible and I did not want to have chicks that I would eventually have to try to sell again so I was picky. I knew at some point I was going to want to have some splash silkies so I posted on here and on CL and ebay that I was looking for either new hatched chicks or hatching eggs..... Not expecting much luck.....
A week later I got a pm and a call from a breeder that was pretty local (within an hour drive) from me who happened to have 4 splash silkie chicks between 2-7 days old! So I of course made arrangements n got em the next day. Problem was my hen had only been broody for about 8-9 days..... I was worried if she would accept them, if she would be a good mom (1st babies shes had), would she stay broody for a couple more weeks or would the chicks break her out of it, the list goes on........
Results:
I gave her the chicks at night and she accepted them without a problem other than bitting me pretty good in the process... After a day or so she took them out of the box and was feeding them, and showing them where food was in the coop which I locked her in so the others couldn't bother her.
She was in a nest box 8 inches off the ground and didnt understand why the babies wouldn't join her in the box!
I decided because of room to just put a rabbit cage in my coop with her and the babies for the 1st couple of days. This kept her on the ground with the babies.
She is pretty high if not the highest ranking hen since she is the oldest but again is a silkie in with 3 Barred Rock hens (8-9 months old) tho they never bother her, a 7 month old white silkie pullet and some 2-3 month old LF Brahmas and some silkies.
After a couple days in the cage she began pacing the small cage so I decided to just leave the door open n let her out with the flock under supervision to see how it went...... Well, the other hens seemed to ignored her. the older babies seem to be more interested in getting close to her but she quickly put a stop to that.
Her and our 7 month old white silkie were buddies before she went broody and even slept in nest boxes next to each other at night. Well in about a day or so of being with the flock the white silkie was hangin out all the time with mama and babies and mama didn't seem to care.
So now its been a few weeks and a lot has happened!
Mama and the white silkie are now both sharing in raising the babies! They both protect and feed the chicks. The chicks will go under either hen for warmth or to either hen when they are scared. I left the rabbit cage in the coop with the door open and mam returned to it every night to sleep in with the babies. White silkie was roosting on top of the cage every night, and every night I would take her down n put her in a corner of the coop to sleep. However I piled up the shavings so the chicks could get into the nest box with mama now that they are a few weeks old, which mama really liked and the white silkie did not...
And as of the other night the most hillarious thing happened!!!!!
I went out as I always do every night to "tuck" the girls in for the night and saw this.....
Bad pic with night vision..... but its both hens and 4 large chicks crammed in to a 12"x12" nest box!
Also a few more picks for viewing of mommy n babies.......
Thanks for reading! LOL just wanted to share my great sucess story........
So I decided when my silkie hen went broody to let her raise some babies after several attempts to break her broodiness failed. We were having record hot weather n she was either panting in her nest box or pacing in front of the chicken door of the coop when I locked her out. Both of which were stressful for her and me both. I wanted to be responsible and I did not want to have chicks that I would eventually have to try to sell again so I was picky. I knew at some point I was going to want to have some splash silkies so I posted on here and on CL and ebay that I was looking for either new hatched chicks or hatching eggs..... Not expecting much luck.....
A week later I got a pm and a call from a breeder that was pretty local (within an hour drive) from me who happened to have 4 splash silkie chicks between 2-7 days old! So I of course made arrangements n got em the next day. Problem was my hen had only been broody for about 8-9 days..... I was worried if she would accept them, if she would be a good mom (1st babies shes had), would she stay broody for a couple more weeks or would the chicks break her out of it, the list goes on........
Results:
I gave her the chicks at night and she accepted them without a problem other than bitting me pretty good in the process... After a day or so she took them out of the box and was feeding them, and showing them where food was in the coop which I locked her in so the others couldn't bother her.
She was in a nest box 8 inches off the ground and didnt understand why the babies wouldn't join her in the box!
I decided because of room to just put a rabbit cage in my coop with her and the babies for the 1st couple of days. This kept her on the ground with the babies.
She is pretty high if not the highest ranking hen since she is the oldest but again is a silkie in with 3 Barred Rock hens (8-9 months old) tho they never bother her, a 7 month old white silkie pullet and some 2-3 month old LF Brahmas and some silkies.
After a couple days in the cage she began pacing the small cage so I decided to just leave the door open n let her out with the flock under supervision to see how it went...... Well, the other hens seemed to ignored her. the older babies seem to be more interested in getting close to her but she quickly put a stop to that.
Her and our 7 month old white silkie were buddies before she went broody and even slept in nest boxes next to each other at night. Well in about a day or so of being with the flock the white silkie was hangin out all the time with mama and babies and mama didn't seem to care.
So now its been a few weeks and a lot has happened!
Mama and the white silkie are now both sharing in raising the babies! They both protect and feed the chicks. The chicks will go under either hen for warmth or to either hen when they are scared. I left the rabbit cage in the coop with the door open and mam returned to it every night to sleep in with the babies. White silkie was roosting on top of the cage every night, and every night I would take her down n put her in a corner of the coop to sleep. However I piled up the shavings so the chicks could get into the nest box with mama now that they are a few weeks old, which mama really liked and the white silkie did not...
And as of the other night the most hillarious thing happened!!!!!
I went out as I always do every night to "tuck" the girls in for the night and saw this.....
Bad pic with night vision..... but its both hens and 4 large chicks crammed in to a 12"x12" nest box!
Also a few more picks for viewing of mommy n babies.......
Thanks for reading! LOL just wanted to share my great sucess story........
