- Jul 1, 2010
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I had a broody hen but she was only broody for a couple of days before the new chicks got here. Last night I went out to the coop and moved her coop mates to a different coop. About an hour later I went back out and removed her eggs (she woke up and saw me and tried to peck at me) then I tried to pop the four chicks under her but she moved to the other side of the coop. One chick wandered over to her but the other three stayed in the corner peeping. I left them for about 10 minutes thinking Dorothy (the mama hen) was shy. When I went back out the chick that had wandered over was snugly underneath her. I pushed the other three over to her and left. Five minutes later the were all underneath her. At 6am I checked Dorothy and she was sleeping with the chicks beneath her. I fell back asleep and went back out a little late to open the coop. It was about 10am when I opened the coop. Dorothy was not on the chicks and when I opened the door she literally flew the coop. My other hens have checked out the chicks and don't seem to be bothered by them but Dorothy hasn't seemed to show any interest in the chicks since I let her out. She took a dust bath,ate, drank and seems to be clucking and chattering to the other hens. She's also walking around with all her feathers puffed out. Is she rejecting the chicks? Or is this just how hens act when the have new chicks?
