Oh this is silly, 5 week old chicks and mom

[MClean417]

So 5 weeks ago our Americauna hatched out 7 of her 10 eggs. We also supplemented the hatch with 4 Rhode Island Reds from our local farm store for 11 chicks. One of the those didn't ever take off and I went back for a replacement and hey, it was clearance day, got 2 for 1. So, half a week later nobody had counted 12 yet, then one of our hatch died and we were back to eleven. This is her second group of chicks and she's been doing really well with raising them.

Last week I started letting her out with a couple of the older hens stuck in the run while the rest of the flock was out during the day. Most of them hang out there to use the nesting boxes in the old coup. And in the last couple days we started letting them out first an hour at night, then a couple hours and today we just left the coup open and Mom and chicks can run around, explore and interact with all the other chickens.

My in run brooder box is hardware wire sides and top with a door that has a plastic cover. At this time I keep the chick food inside the brooder and the door has a chick size hole in it so only they can get in and get the food OR escape any bullies which we haven't seen.
Heres a picture with some of the group.

That's Elvira on the right looking at the
camera and asking if these are really staying.

Earlier today, Momma decided to show them the roost in the Coup attached to the run. The Chicken on the window roost is Elma. She doesn't see very well now but has a full crop every night when she roosts and seems to be in pretty good health.
We have the Grandkids over tonight and after a day of play and seeing the chickens. We put the birds up while there was still fairly good light to pick blueberries (so much easier without feathered friends "helping"). After that was a short period of throwing the ball for the dog and then catching fireflies and shooting those laser helicopters. Well, I forgot to go check on the chicks and chickens and worse, I forgot to open the door to the brooder so she could go in with them. Went out tonight to find they had roosted.

5 on top of the brooder.

And 6 with momma, in the rafters!

Well, with all accounted for I opened the brooder door and put all the chicks in one by one. Some were a little more squawky then others. Then picked up Momma who was perturbed but more interested in where her chicks were, and shut them in. The chicks will be able to get out tomorrow before momma but I'll be there just after sunup anyways so they'll probably just stay with her. Though this morning one of them was outside on her own. 5 weeks old, they're just little birds. You should see them fly from one side of the run to the other almost like sparrows. We have two of them with mohawks, one white and one black. But I didn't see any difference in pin feathers of all of them. Hoping for 11 hens. I know we have at least 5.

 

[gtaus]

Thanks for the nice story. Someday I hope to raise some chicks with a rooster and broody hen. So far, I have only purchased day old chicks and raised them in a brooder. Anyway, nice story and pics.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Absolutely adorable! Eleven chicks is a big group of babies! I'm impressed she's doing so well!

I have a couple of Silkies to whom I gave 3 large breed chicks to raise. The Silkies were broody in the same nest, so I stuck the babies under them and let them co-parent. Well, the babies quickly outgrew their tiny mamas, but it didn't stop the Silkies from sitting on them. Wish I'd gotten pics! Your pics are the cutest - esp that first one!

Very few things cuter than a mama hen with her babies!