Broody 1 week before chicks arrive

[aart]

It is what it is, we all have our habits.

Long line of addiction here.....

But how's that broody mama doing?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Checking the chick cam from the office, I see chicks!

Gary

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Long line of addiction here.....

But how's that broody mama doing?

She is still mostly hiding them! I did see one pop out from under her on the chick cam a few minutes ago. My daughters are asking will Fluffy let us hold them? I answered that probably she will, when she is ready.

Gary

 

[aart]

I answered that probably she will, when she is ready.

Hmmm...you might have to be proactive with that. Frequent handling and interaction will go a long way to making that a happy thing.
Give her a day or two to settle in, then take a chick hold it for a sec and put it back.
Rinse and repeat, over and over, with longer durations, and she should get used to it.
That's one downside to broody chicks, less(or more complex) interactions.
I grabbed a broody chick the other day when my niece was here with her little son,
I got mama bit pretty good, broke the skin and now have a tiny scab haha!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

That's what my brother said, and did

Sorry to hear about your brother Gary.

Just wanna say that ALL of us WILL die... whether we smoke or not. (yep a day I look forward to with sweet rejoice!)

My addiction... sugar. Sadly... maybe just as deadly as smokes and at least equally addictive as cocaine.

Back on topic...

Intervening can be as simple as lifting the broody and shining a flashlight so the chicks see daylight and come out to eat and drink. My coop is fairly dark especially on cloudy days and inside the boxes. If mama hasn't started the food call yet (look babe look), then I help out by dropping some crumble or swishing my finger through it for them to see. And your cam might help... but when I was worried that I never saw the chicks out eating and drinking, I confiscated them in the evening and brought them in for food and water... none were to hungry or thirsty and ALL were mad as heck to not be under mama, even though it had only been a day or two and there was plenty of warmth. Upon seeing they were actually fine even though I didn't see them out when I was checking... they went back to mum and lived (probably) happily ever after.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I love it when a plan comes together!

Gary

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Hmmm...you might have to be proactive with that. Frequent handling and interaction will go a long way to making that a happy thing.
Give her a day or two to settle in, then take a chick hold it for a sec and put it back.
Rinse and repeat, over and over, with longer durations, and she should get used to it.
That's one downside to broody chicks, less(or more complex) interactions.
I grabbed a broody chick the other day when my niece was here with her little son,
I got mama bit pretty good, broke the skin and now have a tiny scab haha!

I've already been getting them out from under her, I started during the
Last week petting her and "checking" the eggs under her. She pecked me a couple times during egg checks but has been super sweet so far letting me handle her babies this morning. They have all been out from under her and eating and drinking. They spend most of the time under mama.

Gary

 

[aart]

FanTAStic!!
Am so glad it worked out for you and your kids, what a great experience!

 

[SueT]

So happy to see!
Now you have time to enter the 'Cutest baby chick" contest...

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

This is beyond cute! Watching the chicks crawl under and on Fluffy is too much She fluffs up twice her size when she is settling them in. Way better than the heat plate and the integration plan is icing on the cake. I plan on moving her and the chicks downstairs to the chicken jail, which is at floor level in about a week. Thing is that space is half the size so I plan on opening the door after a few days in there and letting mama handle the rest.

Edited to ad: Pretty much what @aart suggested


Gary