- Apr 30, 2014
- 6
- 11
- 64
This story is from earlier this year, but I thought I'd share it here. Back in spring, around five of our hens went broody and they all hatched chicks except for one who got unlucky. The picture below is one who did hatch chicks, and she was a great mother. By that I mean she'd have my hand off every time I tried to feed them, hahaha.
Not long after this photo, we found bloody lumps on the underside of the mother hen. It wasn't a good sign to say the least, and we knew she might not have long, but figured the best thing to do would be to leave her with her babies as long as possible.
One day I came down to feed them, and she was gone. I got her out of there, but didn't know what to do about the chicks. I felt they were probably old enough by then to make it on their own, but I really wanted them to be with a hen to give them the best chance and some warmth and protection. So, I decided to try and put them in with two other hens we have that had brooded together.
Their chicks looked very similar to their ones in colour, and we hoped they might accept them. It went well at first, the babies all instantly loved each other and formed a massive huddle. However, the mothers weren't convinced. These babies were visibly a lot older than theirs, and they reacted to them like they would to any other adult chicken: chasing and biting.
So the chicks were removed and put back home. They came easily, except for Simon who tried to hide, and they spent the night in their little hut alone.
At this point, it seemed likely they would have to get by on their own from there on, but it turned out there was one more thing we could try. We had another hen, a big brown one who'd also tried to hatch babies, but sadly all of her eggs had died. Normally I wouldn't have tried putting her with them, because hens normally only accept day old chicks, but she was an unusually sweet tempered broody, so I thought maybe she'd tolerate them at least, and let them sleep under her at night.
Turns out that's what we got. At first they were nervous of her, because she wasn't completely sure, and did chase and bite them a little. But eventually we saw her bobbing down for them to get under her, and they'd sleep under her every night. Eventually, it was as though she hatched them herself. She looked after them wonderfully until they were fully grown.
Not long after this photo, we found bloody lumps on the underside of the mother hen. It wasn't a good sign to say the least, and we knew she might not have long, but figured the best thing to do would be to leave her with her babies as long as possible.
One day I came down to feed them, and she was gone. I got her out of there, but didn't know what to do about the chicks. I felt they were probably old enough by then to make it on their own, but I really wanted them to be with a hen to give them the best chance and some warmth and protection. So, I decided to try and put them in with two other hens we have that had brooded together.
Their chicks looked very similar to their ones in colour, and we hoped they might accept them. It went well at first, the babies all instantly loved each other and formed a massive huddle. However, the mothers weren't convinced. These babies were visibly a lot older than theirs, and they reacted to them like they would to any other adult chicken: chasing and biting.
So the chicks were removed and put back home. They came easily, except for Simon who tried to hide, and they spent the night in their little hut alone.
At this point, it seemed likely they would have to get by on their own from there on, but it turned out there was one more thing we could try. We had another hen, a big brown one who'd also tried to hatch babies, but sadly all of her eggs had died. Normally I wouldn't have tried putting her with them, because hens normally only accept day old chicks, but she was an unusually sweet tempered broody, so I thought maybe she'd tolerate them at least, and let them sleep under her at night.
Turns out that's what we got. At first they were nervous of her, because she wasn't completely sure, and did chase and bite them a little. But eventually we saw her bobbing down for them to get under her, and they'd sleep under her every night. Eventually, it was as though she hatched them herself. She looked after them wonderfully until they were fully grown.
