Foolhardy? You bet and I'm loving every minute of it!

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Sorry to hear about your dad, debschicks! I am literally in shouting distance of Moravian Falls! Was raised in Boomer until I was a teenager so I know the area...and it's about the same, lol...nice to meet ya' neighbor!

On a side note about NeeNee, I reached in the cage earlier to nab a little one, just to check it over, and mama pecked me lightly on the hand for the first time EVER...just to remind me who's in charge here, lol...

 

[danischi24]

She is partridge colored. They vary in amounts of brown & black. What a sweet girl-I only keep silkies.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Pulled a "fast one" on NeeNee today: her "babies" had feathered out enough to be on their own, but I knew that NeeNee would mourn them, so I gave her two 2 week old Pharoah quail (lol) and a 1 week old cochin. She eyeballed them for a minute and called them to the food dish. They thought she was nuts and wanted away! Left them for an hour, went back, and they were running in and out from between her legs...is there no end to her "motherliness"? I also have two eggs hatched in the incubator and two more hatching so I am honestly considering sneaking these little ones under her after dark...I put her original adopted "brood" into a coop of their own...they seem a little confused but unafraid..

 

[chickenmommie]

Thats so sweet get a picture post it and start a blog on nene thas so cool

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

gave NeeNee the two newborn chicks and once again, she took them without complaint lol. Went out this morning and she was still sitting on everyone but within a few minutes of my arrival she got up and had one on her back taking a ride. She has a permanent home, no questions asked. I can't wait till the spring when I start hatching again and she can save me on the power bill lol

 

[Dixiedoodle]

My brother had a Cochin hen that was like your NeeNee.. She would even steal other hen's chicks.. She didn't care what size or breed --once she was roosting w/ two pullets much larger than she, under each wing! So funny...

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

UPDATE:

NeeNee raised a total of 15 surrogate chicks and 2 quail and was still sitting two overgrown chicks last night when her broodiness seems to have ended. She still sits the chicks at night but is relatively uninterested in newborns: I gave her two last night and she let them get under her but didn't call them over for treats...they got confused and ignored so I put them in a brooder. Today, I found that she has officially acheived "womanhood" and is no longer broody by choice: she laid an egg! FINALLY! LOL

I am very impressed with her record though: consistently broody by just giving her babies for around 7 weeks or so. She is now residing in a "honeymoon suite" coop with a new fella: Scooter the cochin rooster. She is so desperate she squatted for me when I picked her up to move her to the coop lol. Floozy.