broody hen has chickies !!!!!

[Buckhunter]

well we had a broody cuckoo maran so we gave her 6 eggs to sit on . 3 days ago they started hatching and we now have 3 new chicks . ............ do we need to keep the hen and chicks away from the other hens ? and for how long ............. the roo is a RIR and the eggs were all from cuckoo marans , so what do you think the chicks will grow up to look like ???

 

[HEChicken]

When my hen was broody I did keep her separate and after the chicks hatched, I continued to keep her separate from the rest of the flock for the first couple of weeks, for fear the chicks would be harmed. I needn't have worried - Mama Hen does a great job of keeping them safe. My chicks are now 4 weeks old and already just a part of the flock. However, my hen has fairly high status in the flock, and I noticed that with the lower status hens she was quite aggressive about keeping them away from her babes, but she allowed the higher status hens to come right up to them. Fortunately none of my high status hens had any inclination to hurt the chicks. You should probably keep an eye on them at first though, just in case.

 

[heatherkh]

HEChicken - I'm interested in your reply. When we let our broody hatch out we were hoping to keep the flock intact, but ended up separating them. It will be two weeks this coming weekend, and I'm thinking we might be able to reintroduce everyone. Only difference being our broody momma is not high in the pecking order. We'll be supervising the situation closely, but I'd rather introduce everyone sooner rather than later.

Congratulations on your hatch, Buckhunter! Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to what your chickens will look like. We have barnyard mutt chicks as well - mommas are a Black Australorp, White Auracana (I'm sure not pure herself) and White Leghorns), dad is a mutt himself (Auracana and White Leghorn).

 

[Buckhunter]

day 4 and now we have 4 chicks ........... 4 for six so far !!!

 

[Buckhunter]

ended up with 5 out of six eggs hatched . Cute little black chicks . Now if they will be accepted by the rest of the flock