Now THAT is good timing!

[Soli]

I came left for work today with one freshly hatched chick in the incubator.

Came home to five fluffy chicks in the incubator AND a freshly hatched chick under a broody hen. Going to give the hen another day to finish up her eggs (she has 4 more) and try to combine them for easier raising.

That is good timing. I knew the eggs under the hen were very close to the incubator eggs, but didn't expect it to be quite this close.

 

[kidcody]

 

[trophywife]

very nice. cant wait to see pics !

 

[SkyWarrior]

 

[misty skye]

Oh! yeah! Please show us pics. i never tire of seeing baby chick pics.

 

[Soli]

This morning before work I tried to get some photos for you. Broody hen NOT agreeable to show me the chick, and as you can see, I got the evil eye instead. She's hatched two now. No pips on the other three eggs under her, but I'll probably move them over to the OTHER broody hen tomorrow, so she can finish them up if needed. Hopefully this will knock them both out of broody mode - the one has been broody for months now, and I was about to resort to a cage.

I am going to try combining them tomorrow. I have concerns about that and wanted to be around to see what she does, and since I'm off tomorrow I thought it best to wait.

 

[lucyboo]

good luck!! post some more pics. when you can!! cant wait to see 'em!! i cant wait to see my own chicks!!!! lol

<3 kelsey

 

[Soli]

Combining the incubator chicks with the hen's chicks is proving more challenging.

The nest boxes in the coop aren't designed for babies to get in and out of. So my idea was to use a cage for hen & babies and leave it inside so the other chickens get used to their presence. When the chicks were able to get around better, I'd let them and hen out.

All was going fine, until the incubator chicks decided to squeeze through the cage bars and run about wildly, making the OTHER broody hen jump out of her nest box to come rescue them. Sigh.

I gathered up all the chicks, brought them into the brooder. (Brooder is a big repurposed horse water trough with heat lamp and tall sides). Gathered hen, put her in brooder. Now ALL the chicks wanted nothing to do with her, preferring to pile up together under the lamp, much to her frustration.

So I took out the lamp.

In just another couple of minutes, all the chicks were under a very satisfied (if confused) hen.

I suppose that I'll try the cage again in a few days. Maybe once the chicks bond they will stay with the hen. The cage bars are a tight squeeze now for them, in a few days they ought not to be able to escape.