I've mentioned this off-hand a couple of times, but I'm still real curious.
My salmon faverolles are broody machines. Been doing it since point-of-lay just about.
One of the SFs, "Ray" had chicks 8 1/2 weeks ago. She was a good mama but she kicked them loose early, around 4 weeks. It's warm enough and the three chicks have done fine. Three weeks ago, another SF "Doe" had a failed hatch. Since I know she's a real good mama (she already raised three), I went and bought her 5 chicks.
A couple days after Doe settled into her broody nest with her 5 adopted chicks, the three 8 1/2 week old chicks decided they wanted to be mothered again; so they moved into the broody crate too. Thank goodness it's a german shepherd sized crate so there's plenty of room for everybody.
Now Doe is mothering not only the 5 - three week old chicks, she's also raising her sisters 3 - 8 1/2 week old chicks. She takes care of them all during the day and makes a courageous attempt to cover all 8 at night.
Is it normal for a broody to just mother anything and everything that comes along?
Here's Doe with her assorted chicks:
My salmon faverolles are broody machines. Been doing it since point-of-lay just about.
One of the SFs, "Ray" had chicks 8 1/2 weeks ago. She was a good mama but she kicked them loose early, around 4 weeks. It's warm enough and the three chicks have done fine. Three weeks ago, another SF "Doe" had a failed hatch. Since I know she's a real good mama (she already raised three), I went and bought her 5 chicks.
A couple days after Doe settled into her broody nest with her 5 adopted chicks, the three 8 1/2 week old chicks decided they wanted to be mothered again; so they moved into the broody crate too. Thank goodness it's a german shepherd sized crate so there's plenty of room for everybody.
Now Doe is mothering not only the 5 - three week old chicks, she's also raising her sisters 3 - 8 1/2 week old chicks. She takes care of them all during the day and makes a courageous attempt to cover all 8 at night.
Is it normal for a broody to just mother anything and everything that comes along?
Here's Doe with her assorted chicks: