Natural breeding thread

[fluffycrow]

Ok. I might just put it back under original mom then. She is mostly just roosting with her tiny chick under her. They have not gotten up much to walk around yet. Going to get the little water dish and chicken starter now. Should I be offering the mom special food in addition, she's been getting her layer crumbles and some seeds.

Mum doesn’t need layer crumble, seeing as she’s not laying. Both her and the baby would greatly benefit from chick feed. It’s much higher in protein, which is what they both need. Table scraps are also great (though some will disagree), let mum introduce the chick to new foods as she sees fit.

If my math isn’t terribly off, 4/22 egg is nearing “lockdown”. I wouldn’t move it around to much.

Unless you don’t want two separate broodies (and broody 2 isn’t already on a clutch of her own), I’d keep the current arrangement. The mum with the chick can go on to teach her baby about the world, and broody 2 can hatch hers in a few days

 

[Virginiachickens]

Ok, having Mama #2, once the chick is hatched, would she also go in our baby enclosure area, and the two moms would be together in there with their 2 babies? We have 9 other hens and 1 rooster that's what our set up is.

 

[Perris]

Going to get the little water dish and chicken starter now. Should I be offering the mom special food in addition, she's been getting her layer crumbles and some seeds.

as fluffycrow said, chick starter is great for mum too; it will provide everything she needs for now.

 

[Perris]

Ok, having Mama #2, once the chick is hatched, would she also go in our baby enclosure area, and the two moms would be together in there with their 2 babies?

what is the relationship between the two broodies? and how much space would they have?
(I write as someone currently dealing with 3 broodies and broods of 5 wk old, 2 wk old and 1 wk old, free-ranging, and it can get a bit chaotic at times )

 

[Virginiachickens]

one is bantam, she's the current mom, and then there's a younger bigger hen, a black sex link i think is her breed. the bantam gets a little bullied when she is just in the regular mix of things but i think has established herself now and is older than the others

 

[Perris]

it sounds like they might get along if they've got room to get away from one another in the 'baby enclosure area'; you just have to try it and feel your way along when there are multiple moving parts. Being a broody raises a hen's status in a flock usually, so both of them might rise a bit in the rankings through this, though it doesn't always work out that way.

 

[Virginiachickens]

Thanks!
Trying not to be overly obsessive here but a few questions for a first timer to this
1. Is it normal for the mom to still be sitting as if she is sitting on an egg still? She really hasn't gotten up much to move around. I put the food near her so she can eat but even when I don't she does not get up.
2. Is it normal for the baby chick to not be eating yet even when food is provided, not follow the mom's instructions?
3. I saw the baby lying down in the sun. That worried me. Baby is back under her mom now. That's where she spends most time.

 

[Perris]

good luck!

 

[Virginiachickens]

good luck!

Thanks! Any advice on my recent post I just wrote would be hugely helpful. And thanks for all the other advice.

Just found another post that says 48 hours of sitting after hatching is normal. So I am trying to just let this all be!

 

[Perris]

1. Is it normal for the mom to still be sitting as if she is sitting on an egg still? She really hasn't gotten up much to move around. I put the food near her so she can eat but even when I don't she does not get up.

yes. She is incubating the remaining egg and nursing the newly hatched chick. She will refuel and poop when she absolutely has to, and not before. The chicks are her priority.

2. Is it normal for the baby chick to not be eating yet even when food is provided, not follow the mom's instructions?

Yes. It has the absorbed yolk to metabolize first; it does not need any other food and to some extent any other food can be unhelpful. Indeed, some old poultry handbooks recommended not giving any food to chicks before the yolk had clearly been absorbed (the bulge at the bum disappeared) or 3 days had passed.

3. I saw the baby lying down in the sun. That worried me. Baby is back under her mom now. That's where she spends most time.

Hatching is exhausting, and it can take days for a chick to fully recover (some have an easier time of it than others and recover quicker). Think of them like babies; sleep mostly, little look around, back to sleep, longer wake periods every day through the first week. You will probably need to support the second chick e.g. by confining the mum and the first hatched, as the late arrival could get left behind very easily when they leave the nest and start exploring their world.