First time with a broody- hatch day is here-not sure what to do?!!??

[sumi]

Well at some point I have to go and post a video.....

Lovely, thank you! They are so chilled. Mine hates it when I pull out the camera

 

[sumi]

Princess and her two little babies...
I held the rest of the eggs to my ear and only one was making any noise at all....

I plucked her out of the nest and the babies tumbled out after her. Boy was she thirsty and hungry.
Photos as promised:



Her Babies are White Wyandotte(roo)\Red Sex-link(hens)
I put her back on the nest and crossed my fingers...
If you notice Princess has a bit of a twist to her beak, not a good genetics to pass to babies....

They are gorgeous! Well done, Princess! Hope they didn't inherit the beak

 

[CarolJ]

Well at some point I have to go and post a video.....

Awww! How sweet! Thanks so much for sharing your video. Your chicks are adorable. My broody had all her chicks out in the run all day yesterday. They were running all over the place. I'm completely sold on using broody hens instead of incubators now!

 

[SarniaTricia]

Princess is not the genetic Mom of the babies... her flock sisters are... (no worry on the babies having a cross beak)

I checked this morning and we are only getting the two from her...
She is out in the coop with them right now.. I think I will give her a week or so before I see if she is ready to run with the big girls..

It was so cute, Pete asked if they were going to be ok in the big girl coop or if the other hens would kill them... I think Princess will do just fine protecting them....(I hope?).. I will not fuss, I will not fuss...

 

[chickenreferee]

I let Ida and the kids out for awhile yesterday. The more I think about it, the more paranoid I get about them being out so small. My coop isn't snake proof and I know there are at least two rat snakes that have been hanging around. I just don't wanna loose any babies. I am planning a new chicken house that will be snake proof for the new brood, but in the meantime, I'm just going to let them out during the day so I can keep an eye on things.

PeeWee, my old man rooster, met everyone yesterday and was a very good boy. Course he's never been a problem when it comes to new chicks really. He's at the bottom of the ladder anyway. Now the ducks are another story. Yesterday was their day out to range and I swear, I knew they were nosey before, but they just beat all I ever saw. As soon as they saw me set the dog kennel down, Peep- the oldest Pekin (7 yrs), made a BEE LINE for the fence and just about grabbed a chick before I could shew it back in. AHHHH!!!! I sat out there for a long while and darned if those ducks didn't just keep nosing around, upsetting Ida. Little turds. You'd think they had never seen a baby before.

The chicks had a blast though and I know Ida felt better after her dust bath. Even the babies were rolling along with her!

 

[sumi]

Ah, sweet! I had a chick once that used to dust bath so enthusiastically, she'd end up spinning in circles, kicking up dirt. I'm glad Ida's having such a fun time and you, after all the stress

It's good you're being paranoid, if lost chicks through being slack in the safety department. Never again!

Enjoy the babies and keep the pics and updates coming. I'm enjoying all your hatches almost as much as my own!

 

[chickenreferee]

Ida and the kids!

 

[sumi]

 

[SarniaTricia]

Wow
Beatiful Family pictures!

 

[marlowmanor]

I noticed yesterday that Hazel was out in the main coop with the chick. We had opened up the broody box Friday evening so that she could leave it if she wanted to. She stayed in there with the chick Saturday but had it out yesterday. It was need to see the chick running around with the adults. Hazel is being a great momma hen. We put out a feeder with chick feed in it and Hazel showed the chick where it was and how to use it. I had thrown some bread and scraps to the chickens and Hazel was tearing up pieces for the chick. We put out a couple extra waterers at lower levels to make sure the chick had access to water at her level. Then when I was leaving to go somewhere I noticed that the chick had gotten up to the big waterer the adults use. Guess she didn't need to lower ones necessarily. I figure with the weather though it doesn't hurt to have multiple waterers out and I know the other chickens appreciated having other waterers around too. Hopefully the older chicks and the adult hens don't end up eating up all the chick feed. I'm excited to see this little chick grow up. My DH was toting it around with him yesterday for a little while!