I just wanted to share, in case anyone thinks this is not possible, that I have an adolescent Buff Orphington named Denise that did not want to participate in being part of my main group of chickens but gladly became queen of her own coop with 18 baby birds. We purchased her as an adolescent and added her to a flock of 5 (1 Jersey Giant, 3 RIRs, and 1 Elder Golden Comet) at night while they were nesting to minimize excessive disruptions. Unfortunately she became very stressed and we pulled her from the coop.
I ended up letting her have the 1/2 acre backyard to herself, which she did enjoy. After a month of Denise enjoying the good life, roaming in my garden eating EVERYTHING, I purchased 18 babies. After raising them indoors, I placed them in their own sealed coop outside next to, but separated from the other birds. I figured they could use a mom to look over them so I placed Denise in the coop to see if she would tolerate them.
By the end of the day Denise had 18 babies surrounding her all while she was making what I think were "cooing and purring" noises. It has been a month now and Denise is the official mom of 18 babies which stick to her like glue...unless butter or cheese is involved and then it is every bird for itself. : P
Denise and the babies are allowed to roam my yard in the daytime and it is quite fun to watch the babies parrot their mom when she goes about her business.
I added a photo showing how stressed Denise was with the adults. She was upside down wedged between a fence and a nesting box. She would not pick herself up and instead seemed to just give up and stay in an awkward position. That was when we separated Denise from the adults.
I ended up letting her have the 1/2 acre backyard to herself, which she did enjoy. After a month of Denise enjoying the good life, roaming in my garden eating EVERYTHING, I purchased 18 babies. After raising them indoors, I placed them in their own sealed coop outside next to, but separated from the other birds. I figured they could use a mom to look over them so I placed Denise in the coop to see if she would tolerate them.
By the end of the day Denise had 18 babies surrounding her all while she was making what I think were "cooing and purring" noises. It has been a month now and Denise is the official mom of 18 babies which stick to her like glue...unless butter or cheese is involved and then it is every bird for itself. : P
Denise and the babies are allowed to roam my yard in the daytime and it is quite fun to watch the babies parrot their mom when she goes about her business.
I added a photo showing how stressed Denise was with the adults. She was upside down wedged between a fence and a nesting box. She would not pick herself up and instead seemed to just give up and stay in an awkward position. That was when we separated Denise from the adults.
