Missing hen emerged from the hay with peeps...what now?

[Armageddon]

Awwww....Pics woulld be great......

 

[andalusn]

Mother hen was waiting at the hen house yard this morning with her brood. They are adorable as expected. When I let the other hens out and laid out corn scratch and some feed everyone got down to buisness and she settled down. If anyone got to close she really gave them what for and fluffed up. Nothing too exciting happend so I will just watch and let her be.

 

[andalusn]

Thank you all for the encouragement and advice. I am working on my 'to do" list

and will continue to keep an eye on everyone. The picture opportunities will hopefully get better. Seems like right now they are just staying under the hen for right now.

 

[suburbanminifarm]

AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!

Can you rig up a rabbit water bottle for them to have their own private safe waterer, that's what I do! Do they have a completely secure private place to be locked up at night? I worry about peeps being delicious and weak and defenseless.

 

[andalusn]

mother hen is determined to sit in the barn aisleway next to the feed area. I liked the idea of putting her in a box but modified the setup. After finding a partial wood hen box, it workd great to turn it over and bed the dirt floor with hay and placing the chickes inside the hen went in and made it cozy. The box gives her a roof with 3 sides offering the feeling of privacy and security. I have checked her multiple times since early morning and she is still inside. The food and water is close by as well. There is one more ihen inside the hen house setting and if the eggs hatch that should be latter part of next week. If that happens I may just put both hens w/chicks inside the dog kennel/pen to keep them together and make it easier to manage their care and feed. That hen, a Cochin is sitting on what should be fertile Brabanter eggs.

 

[Siler]

Awwww! The peep is so adorable!

 

[andalusn]

couple more pictures, I couldn't help it

Since the hen did not want to leave the aisleway we went ahead and zip tied plastic mesh with smaller squares onto the 6' x 6' square dog kennel across from the hen house and still inside the barn/aisleway. It appears she does not want to mix with the others but does know that is the main feeding area when outside of the hen house. During the construction/placement the hen and peeps were in a dog crate and when it came time to move them in I just put the wooden box as well as the dog crate in the pen as well as a smaller waterer and a pan of layer for mom and chick feed for peeps. By bed time she move them from the dog crate to the box and all were snug in their hay nest.

What kind of growth should I expect in this first week? Do they grow quickly?

 

[birdman123]

any new pics

 

[Happy Chooks]

Mine are feathering in really fast.

Here's one of mine that my broody hatched out. It's a week old in this pic. (they are now 2 1/2 weeks old)

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
You do realize this thread is from February, don't you? Those chicks might have chicks of their own by now.