good momma's are amazing

[PatriciafromCO]

Watching the security camera's (to keep an eye on my newer pup now that there are babies on the ground and it's her first exposure to babies) I could also see the momma hen and the momma turkey with their babies. They take those babies long long distances covering huge areas. I first worried about the babies getting enough water during the day. Giving it some thought I guess eatting live plants has more moisture in them , then powdered feed. Happen to catch the momma turkey snatch up a small grass hopper then spit it back on the ground for the baby to work on killing and eating it. How cool is that. To see the mommas tell the babies to wait in an area or calling them to come to her, that she has something for them. I really enjoy catching those moments. I check them in the morning (head count) and check them in the evening. pretty much just leave them alone. They do start off wild and afraid, "which is good for a baby bird to have those high alert reflexes to start" yet all my birds end up very social and confident as adults. Best leave it to the experts lol...

 

[Debbie292d]

I used to love watching my little silkie nuggets following mom around.

After the third time she abandoned them at about a month old so she could go be broody again and we had to raise them, I just stopped doing it and bought an incubator. Silkies are great moms, temporarily. Enjoy yours though!

 

[Grannys Backyard Chicks]

Thanks for sharing . what a beautiful sight. Momma and babies

 

[PoppasGrill]

Nature is amazing.
We find it funny the different “Mothering “ styles of different chicken breeds that we’ve noticed.
Our Orps and RIR are very gentile about calling their chicks and making sure they see the food , then gently scratching to make sure nothing was missed, and the chicks pick up on that quickly. And Mommas usually start letting them alone after 4-5 weeks.
On the other side, our Cemani Momma jumped on the feed and scratched craters in the dirt like digging for gold while calling the chicks. And they now do the same thing at any feeding time. But the Cemani Momma was very protective of her chicks up to 8-9 weeks and would fight off even the Roosters that got near them.
All I can say about Turkeys is they still protect the chickens they were raised with to this day, and they are 1.5 years old. They were chicks raising chicks

 

[fluffycrow]

There is nothing quite like a mother hen/pullet. Sometimes the artificial route can be safer (and definitely interesting), but we can't replicate nature, not even close.

The whole process, from the start of brooding, all the way up to letting the chicks fend for themselves, is almost magical; it's amazing what they can do