DonnaNov54
Hatching
- Jul 2, 2020
- 8
- 2
- 8
Hi all!
Have a strange one for ya. Was curious if anyone had any advice or similar experience.
Today we deep cleaned the coop because we were finally melding together the hens with the new girls, 2 1/2 month old pullets. They’ve been spending the last few weeks together in the chicken yard. As I’ve been slowly trying to get them accustom to each other. No major fights, but per usual, the hens aren’t stoked about the new girls and definitely try to assert their dominance when they can. So... today the littles spent the afternoon in the clean coop and after spending sometime watching, I walked off for a few hours to make dinner and attend to other things.
I came back to check in everyone during bed time because I wanted to supervise the hens getting ready to roost and make sure the littles would be okay. There was some scuffle. Nothing terrible. But all of the sudden, once all the hens went to roost, one of the littles (who has a very interesting personality by the way) ran around the coop erratically, and then hopped into a nest box with one of my broody hens. Huh? This hen had given her a good peck earlier in the day so I couldn’t figure out why the little pullet did this. The broody hen pecked her at first, but the little pullet just kept pushing herself underneath the broody hen. And then she kinda just seemed like she accepted her. I had to go run to the house to take a picture because I’ve never seen anything like this before.
So.... has anyone else seen this before? It’s super hot out, and I can’t imagine she’ll be comfortable under a hen. I don’t want her to die from overheating, but I also wonder if that was her instinct for safety. If anyone has any advice, please share!
We have 38 chicks and 1 hen kept huddled up against the pen clucking to them. After several days of this we put her in with them. They all cuddled up and were happy as can be. It has been several weeks now and they are one big happy family. When another hen gets too close mama runs them off. Couldn't believe one hen would take on 38 chicks!Hi all!
Have a strange one for ya. Was curious if anyone had any advice or similar experience.
Today we deep cleaned the coop because we were finally melding together the hens with the new girls, 2 1/2 month old pullets. They’ve been spending the last few weeks together in the chicken yard. As I’ve been slowly trying to get them accustom to each other. No major fights, but per usual, the hens aren’t stoked about the new girls and definitely try to assert their dominance when they can. So... today the littles spent the afternoon in the clean coop and after spending sometime watching, I walked off for a few hours to make dinner and attend to other things.
I came back to check in everyone during bed time because I wanted to supervise the hens getting ready to roost and make sure the littles would be okay. There was some scuffle. Nothing terrible. But all of the sudden, once all the hens went to roost, one of the littles (who has a very interesting personality by the way) ran around the coop erratically, and then hopped into a nest box with one of my broody hens. Huh? This hen had given her a good peck earlier in the day so I couldn’t figure out why the little pullet did this. The broody hen pecked her at first, but the little pullet just kept pushing herself underneath the broody hen. And then she kinda just seemed like she accepted her. I had to go run to the house to take a picture because I’ve never seen anything like this before.
So.... has anyone else seen this before? It’s super hot out, and I can’t imagine she’ll be comfortable under a hen. I don’t want her to die from overheating, but I also wonder if that was her instinct for safety. If anyone has any advice, please share!
View attachment 2225132View attachment 2225133
