Hopping on Backs and other question!

[bragabit]

My Broody Mom has her baby chicks outside all day long. They are just a week old now. When I raised chicks this spring I had them under lights and worried about chilling them by holding them. But heck this momma lets her babies play outside all day long.

Here are my questions...will momma keep them warm enough?

The baby chicks will hop on her back, looks playful enough. But when the banty rooster comes by they try to do it to him too. Note that Broody only lets our rooster come by the chicks. He brought the baby chicks treats and now he is taken over the father role.
Is the back hopping a playful thing?

When will the broody start laying eggs again?

Anything else I should be aware of with a free ranging broody?

 

[debilorrah]

The mama will keep them warm enough, don;t worry about that. She will protect them too! As far as when she will lay again, it's pretty much a crap shoot - could be in a few days could be in a couple months.

 

[jemagsy]

We just recently had a broody hatch out chicks too and her chicks will ride on her back too. I guess it's playful and learning to roost?? She didn't seem to mind and the chicks loved it. It was wild to watch her running around with one on her back like a wild buck and a cowboy.

 

[Debbienmousey]

Momma knows when her babies are cold, she'll keep them just warm enough.

As for the hopping on the back, I think it's just the chicks being hyper and playful. I never let our mothers and chicks in with the rest of the flock so I don't know about the chicks hopping on the roosters back, but I assume they figure that it mom lets them ride on her, dad will too.

Mother hens can begin to lay anytime after they hatch their chicks I guess. All of our previous mothers didn't start laying again until the chicks were at least 6 weeks old. However Alpha started laying again when her recent hatch were only 3 weeks old. So she was only out of laying for 6 weeks.

I think it varies per hen, maybe even per season or per broodiness.