Interesting situation at my house. Thought I would see what you the chicken savvy masses think. (Mods- if I have put this in the wrong place please move it. It was a pretty random thought that went through my head so I posted here.
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I have two silkie hens that have hatched out 5 chicks between them in the last three weeks. In addition, I hatched out 3 chicks in the incubator (hatched two days after the last of the outdoor babies). When they were a day or two old, I transferred the incubator babies outside to one of the hens. She accepted them and all seemed well. Two days after that I got home late to find all three babies still in the run (one had died), while the other five were tucked up under mamas in the coop. I promptly moved the two incubator babies back in to the inside brooder.
From all observances, the hen was perfectly fine with having the additional babies. What seemed off was the chicks. It was as if they didn't understand the hen or the other chicks. For instance, with the outside babies the mama hen would make the "yummy food here" noise and they all would come running, even from way across the run. The incubator babies would just stand there. I'm guessing she called them all in for the night and they didn't know to go and got lost. Dunno. I watched them for the first couple of days and the incubator chicks just seemed clueless. I attributed that to them being a couple of days younger than the others, but perhaps it was more.
It raises the question though of how chicks learn to be chicks. Do they imprint on mama's voice in shell? I know my hens chuckle and grumble the whole time they are sitting there, especially after the babies are born. And I know my chicks peep before they get out sometimes. Do they make a connection that early? Did my incubator babies get used to me talking to them and not a mama hen? Do they perhaps now speak a different dialect?
What think you? I know many people successfully transfer babies to mama hens. Have any of you seen a "language" transition period? How does a chick learn to be a chicken?
I have two silkie hens that have hatched out 5 chicks between them in the last three weeks. In addition, I hatched out 3 chicks in the incubator (hatched two days after the last of the outdoor babies). When they were a day or two old, I transferred the incubator babies outside to one of the hens. She accepted them and all seemed well. Two days after that I got home late to find all three babies still in the run (one had died), while the other five were tucked up under mamas in the coop. I promptly moved the two incubator babies back in to the inside brooder.
From all observances, the hen was perfectly fine with having the additional babies. What seemed off was the chicks. It was as if they didn't understand the hen or the other chicks. For instance, with the outside babies the mama hen would make the "yummy food here" noise and they all would come running, even from way across the run. The incubator babies would just stand there. I'm guessing she called them all in for the night and they didn't know to go and got lost. Dunno. I watched them for the first couple of days and the incubator chicks just seemed clueless. I attributed that to them being a couple of days younger than the others, but perhaps it was more.
It raises the question though of how chicks learn to be chicks. Do they imprint on mama's voice in shell? I know my hens chuckle and grumble the whole time they are sitting there, especially after the babies are born. And I know my chicks peep before they get out sometimes. Do they make a connection that early? Did my incubator babies get used to me talking to them and not a mama hen? Do they perhaps now speak a different dialect?
What think you? I know many people successfully transfer babies to mama hens. Have any of you seen a "language" transition period? How does a chick learn to be a chicken?
