Well, I got up at 3am today and did a thing.
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It was a nerve wracking few hours sitting in the garage in the dark listening for sounds of imminent murder. But everyone is still alive this morning!
It was not entirely plain sailing, and I am not sure we are fully out of the woods yet, but so far so good. I am putting a longer description of how it played out in the spoiler below (nothing gruesome, just a long post because I need to get the play-by-play off my chest!).
As some of you know, the process started on Friday when I moved Tassels out of the Chicken Palace and the nest she has been sitting on for 3 weeks, and into the garage. I knew this was a risk, but she is a very committed broody so I didn't think it would break her. The idea was to reduce the total viral (Marek's) load the chicks would encounter before the 7 days it takes for their vaccine to fully take. So, I dusted Tassels with a microfiber cloth and then blew the hairdryer at her to try and reduce the dust she was carrying. And then I set her up in a dog crate in the garage with clean cardboard as a liner and clean bedding. The chicks will still get exposed if she is shedding, and of course no dusting is perfect, but hopefully at 5 days post vaccine they will have mounted enough of a response to cope.
As expected, Tassels settled in on her fake eggs after a brief inspection of the cardboard rooms in the dog crate. What I did not expect is that she would go crazy pecking at me. She has never pecked me when broody before. So I was a bit worried that the change in venue had upset her. I let her be to calm down and was happy that she accepted a blueberry and a grape (these are the drug of choice for Tassels!) and then settled down in her new place.
Then, at 3am today I gathered up the chicks. One piece of context is that they are only ever under the heat plate at night, rarely in the day. And Geronimo (of course) it turns out doesn't even sleep under the plate.
Armed with my red headlight I went into the garage and opened the dog crate and started to insert chicks under Tassels. That unleashed the hounds of hell! She was merciless. She pecked chicks, she pecked me, she growled. Poor Chippy found herself cornered and facing an onslaught so I risked life (well at least limb) and pulled her out and then tucked her firmly under Tassels. I retrieved as many of the fake eggs as I could but did not want to risk riling Tassels up any more so beat a retreat to my kitchen stool in the garage and sat in the dark and listened. I also watched on the doorbell camera that I had placed on the top of the dog crate.
Tassels spent the next hour grumbling bad-temperedly and apparently randomly lashing out. But then I saw her scoop rather than peck Geronimo (who was of course not actually under her), and I saw Chippy peak out and then go back under. So I relaxed a little.
Then, just before dawn the chicks were out from under her and running around. Tassels heard the commotion and spun around and went into full-on battle formation. I think she thought they were mice that had invaded her nest. She was ready to eat them all. But then they made eye contact and she did a double-take and I think realized that these crazy chicks were the ones she thought were keeping warm under her!
Since then, she has tried to tuck them under her (they won't go) and has been sharing a food bowl with them.
They have been jumping up to peck her face (which she tolerates) but have not gone back under.
I don't know if that is just because they aren't cold, or if they don't recognize her as Mom.
So, I think we can say that Tassels is now a Momma and has her babies. It is less clear that the babies believe they have a Momma!
Tomorrow, assuming it is all going OK, I will move the dog crate into the Chicken Palace as that will be 7 days post vaccine and it will hopefully be working.
Gosh sounds rather dramatic at the time, bet your heart was pounding! Sounds promising though. The chicks will get used to her, but I would leave them in the garage for a few days to really cement their bond, too much moving about could undo the fragile relationship.
Also I would limit my exposure to them so they start to forget about you, and latch onto Tassels. I only check on them twice a day to ensure they have food and water. Like you I use a camera to watch from a distance.
What do others think?
