Broody in Michigan Winter?

[aart]

Low of -12F this morning at 6am.

Everyone came out of the nest to chow on some fresh wet mash for about 5-10 minutes then back into the nest, mama first then the chicks one by one. Amazing!


The partition wall comes down today mid afternoon. Flock will be mostly outside eating scratch, can't wait to see what happens.

High today of 19, tonite low 15, tomorrow high of 33......
......figure that's good time to try this out, less risk to possibly stranded chick and more comfortable for me to observe.

Chicks are 2 weeks old tomorrow, want to test mama's capacity for protection before it gets cold again. If I wait until it really gets warm, she may be ready to wean them before integrating them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’m interested in your experience in watching flock dynamics with younger chicks and a broody. If it is anything like mine, I think you will be amazed at how little of a threat the rest of the flock really is. They will likely show some curiosity at first, but soon the chicks will be just a part of the flock. Mama may need to teach a lesson or two because there is a threat, but it is almost always of very low drama, especially since it sounds like you have plenty of room.

Good luck!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

X2

I've never had a problem with chicks raise by a broody in a flock.
My only concern has been to get enough protein in the chick the first few weeks.

 

[aart]

I hope you're right RR....just my total lack of experience causing a tiny bit of worry, plus the stress of the cold adds an element of concern...I hope she doesn't try to take them out into the run!

Plus I always contemplate(not dread, just acknowledge) worst case scenarios, part of my engineering nature and training. Plan for the best, realize the possibility of the worst.

They've been checking out the chicks thru the wire, I have seen mama feint and growl towards them a couple times.

Not sure I'm going to get it done today, trying to clean up more of the foot of snow we got in the last couple days before it thaws tomorrow and just gets heavier, need to set up a creep feed area still.... not sure I'll have the energy.

I'm feeding 20% flock raiser to all the birds but grinding and wetting it for the chicks.

 

[aart]

Holy Hen Fight!!! Wild Rumpus Time in the Chicken Coop!!


Took down the partition wall. Mama chased of a few off easily but got in 2 *huge* fights with a couple of the senior hens, feet and feathers flying, combs grabbed, the whole 9 yards...they were really going at it.

Woody the cockerel tried to 'help' but was rather ineffective-jumping on mama at one point, I ended up breaking up one of them. There was a little blood drawn on mama's comb. Chicks were fine, no one went after them in particular, stayed in the nest during the ruckus. The hens that were fighting were always higher ranking(and meaner) than mama, so maybe that's why all the fuss. I hope they're done with that crap. Time will tell.

Chicks found their creep feeder and worked the water nipple attached to the nest with one of the pullets, which mama didn't mind at all..... everyone seems ok for now. Whew, what a Chicken Rodeo!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's a lot more excitement than I normally see. I've never seen a hen even try to stand up to a broody. Glad they are OK.

Did the other hens threaten the chicks or did Mama take preemptive action?

 

[aart]

That's a lot more excitement than I normally see. I've never seen a hen even try to stand up to a broody. Glad they are OK.

Did the other hens threaten the chicks or did Mama take preemptive action?

I didn't see any bird go after the chicks......
......the first fight started when mama went to the regular feeder, not sure how the second one started as my back was turned cleaning the boards
(might have been around another feeder that is in the partition area).

Wish I had a coop cam, headed back out soon here. I figured to take it down late in afternoon, then everyone can go to roost and take a break.
.

 

[bobbi-j]

That's a lot more excitement than I normally see. I've never seen a hen even try to stand up to a broody. Glad they are OK.

Did the other hens threaten the chicks or did Mama take preemptive action?

I've had some excitement with integrating broodies with chicks into the flock. Usually it's been due to the mama taking preemptive action rather than anyone actually going after the chicks. Both last year and the year before, it was the same broody and she made sure NO ONE was going to get near her babies, but there was one hen who thought she needed to challenge the mama. Every time, the rooster broke up the fight and got between Mama and the aggressor.

 

[aart]

I'm really not sure if mama stared the fights or the other hens did, but man they were really going at it!
I've never seen a chicken fight like that before, went on for 3-4 minutes.

Everything seemed to have calmed down later, everyone went to roost and mama settled in the nest with the chickies.

Looking forward to watching the antics tomorrow.....and enjoying a wonderful 33F!!

 

[larush]

I just read through this whole thread, and thank goodness it is here! I'm in your same situation, but I'm in NW Ohio, and tomorrow is day 21. These negative temps froze our water lines in the house last weekend, but amazingly our broody has kept those kiddos cookin! We weren't sure if we were going to set her either because of the weather and since she's a first timer. And she's less than a year old... Talk about babies having babies. Everything has gone amazingly smooth thus far, but here's hoping my hatch will be as successful as yours! Thank you for sharing!