Chicks abandoned by hen

[greginshasta]

We have no roos in our flock, at least no mature boys at least. So when our Maran and Australorpe became broody in the Spring, we obtained fertile eggs from a friend.

The Maran parked herself first, and the Australorpe followed her by a week. Since both had showed strong determination last year, and we knew that none of the "strategies" for breaking them out of their mood was successful, we wanted to support them in their efforts. Fresh fertile eggs were obtained from our friend for each hen.

On May 29 the Maran hatched out 5 chicks, and within a week the Australorpe popped out two.

Interestingly, the Maran was far more patient while sitting on her eggs. The Australorpe tended to get up occasionally and when she returned to her box, she lost track of what eggs to sit on. Fortunately they were marked so we knew which to shove back under her.

Momma Maran is unbelievable. What a devoted and conscientious mom! When her chicks were younger she defended them from other hens or chicks that strayed too close. Her chicks have grown, look healthy, and they are like a little mob as they run around the yard each day.

Black Broody (the Australorpe) lost interest early. She abandoned her chicks weeks ago. She pays them no attention, roosts separately from them, and wouldn't know if they were being tormented by the others.

These two chicks (we call them the midgets) are a week younger than Momma's flock. And they are easily less than half the size of Maran's chicks. We tried locking them up in a portable tractor for a few days with a feeder full of starter feed, but they seemed quite unhappy being restrained - they had already been accustomed to free-ranging around the yard. So now they are allowed the run of the yard daily and they just hang together

Momma Maran started taking her chicks into the main house where they all roost together on a shelf in the coop, away from the abusive hens.

At night the midgets sleep together in the upper reaches of our covered outdoor run. They tried sleeping in the main chicken house with the big girls, but that only lasted a couple nights. Fortunately they are well-feathered, and the weather is warm, so I guess they are ok.

Mostly I just wanted to tell the story of how these two mini-flocks have differed in how they were raised, the result in their growth, and the result in their independence. Momma's chicks hang very close to her at all times, and the midgets hang by themselves with nobody to watch out for them.

Is it surprising that their size differs so greatly, despite only being a week different in age?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for sharing the story. If that doesn't show how different the personalities of hens are, nothing will. It just shows how hard it is to predict what a specific individual will do.

I don't know the breeds of the chicks, which could explain the size difference. You've seen how fast they grow. I'm assuming the difference is more than that. It is quite possible that the difference is due to the Maran doing a much better job of taking care of her babies, not just in finding them food and water but keeping them warm and happy and just teaching them how to be chickens.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i'd say just make sure the midgets are getting plenty of high protein chick feed. the good momma is providing for her littles and - aside from a diff breed - this could be it.

we had one spectacular momma - and then our last gal was kind of a mess. she abandoned her babies as soon as they were feathered out.

i guess everyone is different!

 

[Chickenaddict]

The experiences I have had with broodies varies as well. Most hens only stick around for 1 month sometimes they leave sooner then that. I had a hen peck at her 3 week old chick trying to get away from him, I stepped in and became mama because he wasn't totally feathered out yet and he was also super tiny. I have a white leghorn bantam hen right now who hatched out 2 eggs, one chick was sold and the lone chick remains with her today he is just about 1 month old. My EE bantam hen also went broody at the same time as the leghorn, she left her chicks several times a day cheeping and freezing so I took them away from her and put them in a brooder with other chicks I hatched in the bator at the same time the broodies were hatching. Each hen is different and sometimes first time moms have a short attention span and loose interest early on and some are just excellent mothers. Pearl (leghorn mama) and her chick have been with the rest of the flock from day 1, The chicks weren't even 1 week old and she had them rolling in the dirt for dust baths already.

I had noticed the size difference between the lone chick with mma hen as apposed to the chicks in the brooder, the lone chick is much bigger then the chicks in the brooder because he is out eating bugs and greens as well as chick starter. I wouldn't worry about their size difference as long as they are happy and healthy they should be just fine

 

[greginshasta]

Quote:
Well, we have the good chick feed but when we penned the midgets up with a feeder, all they did was pace at the screen wanting out. It's not like being next to food resulted in their eating it.

As for breeds, it's a bit difficult to tell. From the eggs we gave the Maran, there are clearly a couple (what appear to be) barred rocks. Then there are a few that are mostly black with a rust coloration down their back.

The Australorpes chicks - one is black, and the other looks like a RIR mix with something else.

Our friends from whom we obtained the eggs have multiple roosters and the boys seem to have quite a time with all the hens over there, resulting in a bit of a crazed mix.

 

[greginshasta]

Quote:
As I mentioned, the midgets roost together. One night neither of them came home at night but were around in the morning. Evidently they found some little vacation hideaway that evening.

Last weekend the red/yellow (sidekick) one didn't turn up and the black one (flash) just paced and chirped away waiting for her sidekick to turn up. In the morning when sidekick to show up, flash was in the big girls yard. She ran headlong to the fence, jumped to a cinder block that gave her the trajectory and blasted through a hole in the wire fence large enough for her to fit, landing next to sidekick. They are virtually inseparable.