A friend had one of his hens go broody, but he had no fertilized eggs. I gave him some of mine from my orps to hatch. He brought them over today. I'm ecstatic. These were the first eggs hatched from chickens in my stewardship. This is so rewarding. Can't wait to hatch them in my incubator (one week to go) They are presently with their mother in isolation for a few weeks. The mother even laid me an egg today in there new home. Does that mean she's done with these chicks? When I left the chicks alone they just huddled in the corner. As soon as I put mom in they were all running around drinking water and eating starter. So, it seems, they still want her. I'm so happy. Bob
Nice babies. They look about two to three weeks old right? They will need a heat source still if you take them away from mom. Once my chicks hit 3 weeks and have some real feathers I put them in the brooder in my barn under an 80 watt heat lamp. They need around 75 degrees under the light at that age. If they get cold they will huddle up or spread apart if they get too warm. I can't comment on taking them from Mom because I've never had a broody hatch. I suspect they are used to her and feel naked and anxious when she is gone. They will grow out of that. Are those Blue Orps or a cross?
Congrats on the chicks!!!! I imagine they will want to follow mom around for quite a while yet. She's the safety zone, the protector. Julie
Thank you so much everyone. I haven't felt like this since my own son was born. I want to go check them about every 10 min Jullie, yea when I go to look at them mom gets between me and the chicks She's very protective. Thanks SpeckledHen, I really think orps are becoming my favorite. The more I read about and see them the more I like. PC, yup they are a few days shy of 3 weeks. They are presently in a brooder that is 2ft wide and 6 ft long with mom. I do have a heat lamp in there too. When they seen me putting mom in there with them you could almost hear their sigh of relief. They were visibly happier when they seen her. I'll probably leave her with the for the 3 weeks they are in isolation, and when they go into the coop I'll put mom in with the big chickens. Those are from a black orp father and blue orp moms. The father is a very large bird, almost like a jersey giant. Heres a pic of my roo and two of the blue hens. The buff bird I bought as an orp, but it has yellow legs. So I'm not sure what it is. Bob
Henrietta23 Thankx. Good luck on your hatch I'll send you some good karma. I'm sure I'll be up all night a week from today, waiting and watching.