- Jun 4, 2013
- 16
- 0
- 80
I currently have 5 hens (2 ameracaunas, 1 rir, 2 golden comets) who are about 1.5 years old. A few months ago, one of my golden comets went broody and I got fertilized eggs from a neighbor and some from my mom and she hatched 6 chicks. They are 7 weeks old today and have been outside, in a separate coop with mama hen since the day they hatched. The babies are 2 leghorns (I believe there's one rooster and one hen), and 4 buff bhrama/buff orphington mixes (and I believe 1 of those is also a rooster).
I've let both groups out to free range and there haven't been any major issues. One of my older girls actually prefers to stay with mama and the babies. The other 3 keep their distance but the 2 golden comets have chased each other a few times. No blood or missing feathers...I believe just pecking order, protective mama type stuff.
Anyways, their coops are side by side and I had planned on opening the runs to combine them as one big run and still having 2 different coops since I can't really add onto the coops the way that I have them.
So, here's where the problem comes in. My son brings home a slip from school to bring home some leghorn chickens they're hatching in class. To be fair, I filled it out saying I would take 3 because last year, my daughter brought home a slip and I also said we'd take some. We live in a rural farming area and there weren't enough chicks last year so we ended up not getting any from my daughters class. My sons slip said first come, first serve depending on when the papers were handed in. He handed his in on the deadline so I thought for sure, we weren't going to get any. So...teacher calls me this morning and asks if I can pick them up tomorrow.
So, we've got both coops filled currently. I doubt mama hen would take on additional babies at this point and it's really too cold for them to be outside now so I'll keep them in the upstairs bathroom under a heat lamp.
How should I go about eventually introducing these new babies? And really....why wouldn't they have waited until it was warmer to hatch chicks in school?
I do plan on getting rid of a few of the babies we have now. I had told my boyfriend that we were maybe keeping one or two but that it would be nice for the kids to see babies hatched.
So, what would you do to make this go as smoothly as possible??
I've let both groups out to free range and there haven't been any major issues. One of my older girls actually prefers to stay with mama and the babies. The other 3 keep their distance but the 2 golden comets have chased each other a few times. No blood or missing feathers...I believe just pecking order, protective mama type stuff.
Anyways, their coops are side by side and I had planned on opening the runs to combine them as one big run and still having 2 different coops since I can't really add onto the coops the way that I have them.
So, here's where the problem comes in. My son brings home a slip from school to bring home some leghorn chickens they're hatching in class. To be fair, I filled it out saying I would take 3 because last year, my daughter brought home a slip and I also said we'd take some. We live in a rural farming area and there weren't enough chicks last year so we ended up not getting any from my daughters class. My sons slip said first come, first serve depending on when the papers were handed in. He handed his in on the deadline so I thought for sure, we weren't going to get any. So...teacher calls me this morning and asks if I can pick them up tomorrow.
So, we've got both coops filled currently. I doubt mama hen would take on additional babies at this point and it's really too cold for them to be outside now so I'll keep them in the upstairs bathroom under a heat lamp.
How should I go about eventually introducing these new babies? And really....why wouldn't they have waited until it was warmer to hatch chicks in school?
I do plan on getting rid of a few of the babies we have now. I had told my boyfriend that we were maybe keeping one or two but that it would be nice for the kids to see babies hatched.
So, what would you do to make this go as smoothly as possible??