I must be crazy.....my first attempt at hatching, under a broody

[MommyMagpie]

or should I say a pair of broodies! I've had at least two Cochins broody since sometime in April, so last week I succumbed to their poor-me-why-are-you-taking-these-eggs looks and am allowing them to set 6 eggs.

Do I need to have a separate pen for mamas and babies once they hatch? Will the rooster bother the chicks if he's been around throughout the incubation period? And do Cochins generally make good mothers? We usually let the chickens out to free range for a little while every day, and we do have lots of tree cover so it would be hard for an aerial predator to get a chick, but there's the family cat (who has been educated a couple of times by Bob the rooster, but hasn't completely grasped the concept that he ought not to try to prey upon Bob or his girls). We have bird dogs too, but they are perfectly content to point up the chickens (I sat on the deck one afternoon for over 10 minutes watching Mac, who was pointing his heart out.....shifting position each time the birds moved to a different spot in the yard.....it was pretty funny - and Mac was on a runner, the furthest reach of which the chickens have learned).

I have no idea why I am doing this; we don't need any more eggs, and the chicks will be barnyard mutts (either whatever you get when RSL hen mates with RSL roo, or Cochin/RSL cross - which might make for an interesting-looking chicken).

I think if I've counted up correctly, hatch should be around the 30th of June.

 

[Judy]

I've let my 6 or 7 broodies who hatched eggs raise them in with the flock, which included roosters. The roos either ignored the chicks or helped the mama; it was the other hens that the mama had to chase off the chicks. I wouldn't do it any other way, as this way the chicks are already integrated into the flock when the mama quits mothering them.

Many dogs do fine around chickens and even chicks, though many more "play" with them and kill them. Cats are another matter. My cats leave my full grown chickens alone but not the chicks; they are not safe from any cat I've ever had.

 

[sumi]

I separate my new moms and chicks for the first few weeks and slowly integrate them when they are around 4 weeks old. I don't have a problem with the roosters, they seem quite proud of their offspring, but I did have a problem with hens eating the new chicks