Chicken Babysits Broody's Nest

[Hedwig Chicken]

Does Nugget willingly leave when Ginny comes back to her nest?
Great story, hope you update this thread as hatch day nears and passes.

I don't think so, they are very good friends and all the eggs are intact. Nugget is much smaller than Ginny too, so she generally just hurry out of her way when she arrives.

 

[Hedwig Chicken]

AWW!!! That's so cute!!! I have had one broody hen but we did not have a rooster... soo...

I think that they might be bored and sitting on eggs is something to keep them occupied.

also they could be friends and keeping eachother warm or in company is fine.

or maybe they made a deal so no one "mom" would have to sit on eggs for the whole time.

We don't have a rooster either, so we just bought her fertilized eggs. I candled them on day 14 and 8 eggs out of 10 were moving! The other two weren't even fertilized.

Sitting on eggs must be a really lame hobby...

She must a lucky momma if she gets a free babysitter.

 

[JMotuzick]

Either way keep us updated! Very cool to hear stories like this. If one of our goes broody I might let her do her thing. But I don’t want to get a incubator candling etc. I’m guessing I’ll need to separate them from the rest of the flock once they hatch though....

 

[Hedwig Chicken]

Either way keep us updated! Very cool to hear stories like this. If one of our goes broody I might let her do her thing. But I don’t want to get a incubator candling etc. I’m guessing I’ll need to separate them from the rest of the flock once they hatch though....

I will definitely update all of this. This is my 2nd time with fertilized eggs. Frist time, I made and incubator myself and 7 little chick's hatched out of 18. 6 were boys though...
They are scheduled to hatch around New Year's Eve. I'm waiting to see if my broody will be more successful.

 

[chuckachucka]

I had a couple of hens go broody at the same time and they would share the time sitting on the eggs. When the chicks hatched, they co-parented for two days...and then WW3 broke out. They just snapped and started fighting and wouldn't stop until separated. I ended up having to give one of the hens away so the other one could rear the chicks in peace.

 

[JMotuzick]

I had a couple of hens go broody at the same time and they would share the time sitting on the eggs. When the chicks hatched, they co-parented for two days...and then WW3 broke out. They just snapped and started fighting and wouldn't stop until separated. I ended up having to give one of the hens away so the other one could rear the chicks in peace.

Im not sure how many hatched but why not split the “littler”? 2 coops 2 small flicks and once they got to about 4/6 weeks mix them up again? I’m fairly new to chicks so maybe I’m wrong in saying to do this?

 

[chuckachucka]

Im not sure how many hatched but why not split the “littler”? 2 coops 2 small flicks and once they got to about 4/6 weeks mix them up again? I’m fairly new to chicks so maybe I’m wrong in saying to do this?

There were only two chicks and I considered giving them one each but didn't have enough space to keep them separate from each other as well as the rest of the flock. It was sad because they were raised together and were best friends/sisters for a long time until the chicks hatched. After that, worst enemies. I know many people have hens who mothered chicks together happily but I would never let any of mine try it again.

 

[chuckachucka]

This is the two girls before war broke out:

 

[JMotuzick]

There were only two chicks and I considered giving them one each but didn't have enough space to keep them separate from each other as well as the rest of the flock. It was sad because they were raised together and were best friends/sisters for a long time until the chicks hatched. After that, worst enemies. I know many people have hens who mothered chicks together happily but I would never let any of mine try it again.

Ok so keep the one with the flock and let Moma have the 2 chicks. Re Intorduce in 4-6? Half of this is me learning not telling you how to raise your flock!

 

[Hedwig Chicken]

I had a couple of hens go broody at the same time and they would share the time sitting on the eggs. When the chicks hatched, they co-parented for two days...and then WW3 broke out. They just snapped and started fighting and wouldn't stop until separated. I ended up having to give one of the hens away so the other one could rear the chicks in peace.

Poor you. I don't think Nugget is broody, just nest sitting. Chickens can be strange though...