Is this common for a hen??????

[crj]

I have a Heritage Bronze hen and really likes being a Mom. She worked on getting a baby turkey and 8 guineas (all the same age) to be her babies. She was patient and now the young birds that are now 2 1/1 months old stay with her and feed. My tom will also help out and walk with all of them. Now, I have a bantam Ameracauna hen that became a first time Mom yesterday afternoon. Today the turkey hen has been watching the bantam hen and her babies and it looks like the turkey hen wasn't to take over the Mom roll. Thankfully the turkey hen is staying a good distance away but now she sees there are more babies. Talk about a "Mother Hen!" Anyone else have a hen that does this?

A little background to this hen. She was a first time Mom in the spring and she hatched out 9 chicks. About 4 days later a starving hunting dog ate 6 of the babies and then later that afternoon I sold the other 3. I think it traumatized her and I felt super bad that she lost all her babies in just a few days. So I'm wondering if she is making up for it whenever she sees baby chicks. I have to say it sure makes her happy.

 

[crj]

Really? Does anyone know if this is normal for a turkey to want chicken chicks or keets? Or any baby birds for that matter? Maybe I'm really lucky have a very maternal turkey hen.

 

[Frosty]

I wish I could answer that, but I don't usually have hens hatch out poults and if they do I don't have other birds with their babies around. She does sound like a keeper!

 

[Gardeninggranny]

Heritage type turkeys can be very broody. And they can steal other poults or chicks to raise and they raise them well without dogs around. I even had a tom sit on a misplaced egg until I took it away from him. First time I ever saw that but he was sitting on and protecting that egg. He's a bourbon red that has sired several hatches now and is definetly a tom. Currently he is escorting around 3 of his last offspring that we raised in a brooder for the first month then put in our chicken pasture. They stay close to him. Their mom was left with 4 chicks to raise, we took 6 and put them in a brooder, sold 3 of those and these 3 are with dad, mom has her 4 in our garden area where she hatched them. We also use turkeys to hatch chickens every spring, they do a better job than most hens.

 

[crj]

Quote:
That's fascinating! My tom is great with babies too. The same turkey hen saw the baby chicks my bantam just hatched. That turkey was wanting those babies pretty bad..... lol. Luckily the bantam and her chicks were in the pen. I know that turkey hen had been in there before just staring at the babies trying to figure out how to get them. It was kind of funny. I'll tell ya something..... these turkeys and chickens and other birds are just amazing. What they can do and what they offer. Not a day goes by that I am truly grateful and awed by them.

 

[crj]

Here is a picture of the turkeys with the guineas and a baby turkey that a friend had given me when they were day olds. Proud Momma and my tom that is doing his duty as a Dad..... lol. It's only taken the turkey hen 2 months to do this.

This is what the Momma turkey is going for now.

These are bantam chicks that are a 2 days old and no bigger then a golf ball but that Momma turkey is giving it her best to sneak them away from that bantam hen..... lol. I keep the pen door closed now but that hen will watch through the fence and cluck to them.