Nursery Yard

[Completely Flocked!]

I searched the posts and found nothing on this subject and am hoping someone can give me some advice. We had problems, in the past, with keeping moms and babies in our main yard, so we built a smaller, VERY secure (both from aerial and ground attacks) yard to keep moms and babies together. It currently is housing our oh-so-broody Bantam Cochin and her little brood of 5 TSC assorted Bantam babies and a mom duck and 4 little ducks. They have cohabitated pretty well, with only the occasional issue of the Cochin getting testy if the ducks dare to get too near what she perceives to be 'her' area. Now here's my problem: We have a first-time brooding Blue Cochin (Man, those Cochins are a broody lot!) who should pip today and we want to move her and her lot into the pen, as well. There is only the one house, though it contains 2 halves of an old dog crate but I am concerned about the interaction between the two moms and how they'll perceive the other's babies. Since the Bantam has Bantam babies (very small) and the Blue's babes will be "normal" (coming out of the egg the same size as the Bantam babies are now) I'm wondering what is the best thing to do. Should I move Blue & babes during the night? Any help? Thanks!

 

[Kaitie09]

I've housed two mamas in the same pen with no problem, and they ended up basically caring for all the chicks together. The one mama was very aggressive, and the other was very nurturing, so if worked out well. I think the only thing you can do it try and see what happens. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it does not. Just be prepared to quickly separate them if you have to.

 

[Completely Flocked!]

Thanks Katie, so you're saying we should put them together during the day? Or should we move Blue in during the night and expect to be up before the chickens, so we can intervene? Appreciate your answering me! I'm remembering much from my chicken days, and have done a lot of research, but sometimes these odd questions come up and I can't find an answer.

 

[Kaitie09]

I think you should try it during the day, preferably in the morning so they have all day to get used to the idea. The only concern I have with trying them at night is if they get rejected while you are asleep, but that is just from my experience.

We had bought chicks for a broody hen and placed them under her at night. I went out there at 4 am the next day, and the chicks had been pushed to the other side of the pen and died from not getting enough heat. Ever since then we just put them in in the morning, and check in on them every 20 min throughout the day to make sure things are working out.

You will probably get other posts saying that night is good too, again, this is just from my past experiences. Every bird is different.