Thank you for that information. I only have 12 hens today I only got 11 that including hers . The other chicken never laid today. I’m saving today’s eggs and tomorrow’s for them if the act like they have been for past 2 days. I’ve got their pens all ready and went to town pick up chick starter for them also. Im hoping they will hatch some chicks but right now I’m uncertain if they are serious or just playing around lol
I don't think there is a black and white answer...I think it depends on bird and situation. I tried over several days to move mine, once to a cage in the coop in daytime ( she freaked out and I realized night time and bigger cage would be better), next day to bigger cage inside run at night ( she sat through the night, but freaked out when she saw the other birds at daybreak...seemed to want to flock with them), then the next night successfully moved to cage in garage. She didn't freak out in morning and sat comfortably for the next couple of days until hatch. It worked once she was out of site of other birds. I also once moved a bird mid hatch from coop to cage in garage after the first chick I ever had hatched fell out of the nest box the night it hatched and got too cold and died...aargh, I have learned from my mistakes. That hen was a calm, super broody cochin.
I would wait till all her eggs hatch, then I would move mom's and babies at night. Out of hundreds of chicks I've seen hatch in the coop with other chickens running around, only 2 got stepped on by other chickens and crushed. Most (not all) Mommas are very defensive of their chicks and will put the hurt on any other hen that even looks at her babies wrong. After about a week they will usually let a rooster closer to the babies but they will still be fluffed up, mean and defensive. I used to seperate mommas and babies from the rest of the flock for about 1 month, but now, after about a week, I let the Momma take them around teaching them foraging, dirt baths, and other chicken things and letting them become integrated. Seems like all the babies I kept away from the flock never would get the hang of foraging. They would lay around and nearly starve rather than forage up something good to eat that God provided for them.
Love your rooster. He is a beauty. The sapphire gem laid an egg a bit ago. And she got off nest. I’ve decided not to put real eggs under either of them yet. They have fake eggs for now. They are both in their broody pens. I’m new to chicken cares and am so thankful for this sight.
Thanks! He is pet quality and long legged, but adorable. My three new babies are his. His hen laid about 20 eggs before going broody. I had just happened to save 2 of them from the 2 days prior. Once she sat on the nest the whole day, she never came off again. She laid one last egg the day she decided to sit all the way through the night, so if I hadn't saved a few, I would have been out of luck.
Absolutely adorable
