- Jul 12, 2010
- 40
- 8
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I went out to my barn today and found we have a clutch of new chicks......the mother hen is not even a year old~! Much to my surprise she decided to brood 21 days ago. I have 2 free roam hens that are sisters and my old Rooster Mufasha I have had for over 7 years so I do not know his age exactly. I have a nice Rabbit cage that stands on legs it is something I came across at a yard sale and bought for my hen Jenny who I hand raised all by herself in my house. She is not a typical hen she is more like a dog ( LOL ) what is great about the cage is the 2 hens laid their eggs in it either in the brood box side or the open side. My husband put up nice perches and fixed it all up. I always left one egg behind when I collected or I would find myself looking for the new eggs if they happened to lay out of the cage. Apparently I got busy and there were about 10 eggs that "Sissy" started to sit on. I seriously figured she would not do well this being her first time and her being so young.......You can not imagine how surprised I was today when I came in to see at least 7 of the cutest baby chicks I have ever seen~!!! I am not sure exactly how many of them there are right now I do not want to disturb the hen too much. The Best part for me is that they are all eggs from my "Jenny" and from "Sissy" Jenny is just beautiful......for the past 3 years the chicks that my coop hens have hatched have been black except for Jenny and I Thank God I was able to save her.
I did put in food in a feed dish and water too....I just hope they find it on their own because the cage is bedded with hay. Any suggestions on exactly what I should do with these chicks? I am thinking of letting Mom bring them up as they too will be free roamers. I closed the cage door because it will be quite a drop if one happens to climb up 3 inches and fall out. I will definitely post photo's.........I am so excited~!!! I just got 2 baby geese that I have been having a ball with BUT my Jenny and Mufahsa don't like them very much. I am hoping they all learn to coincide.
I am not sure if I should put on gloves and remove the mother to inspect the babies and then put her back or just let nature take it's course???? Any suggestions are much apprciated and as I said I will get pictures tonight in a few minutes.
I did put in food in a feed dish and water too....I just hope they find it on their own because the cage is bedded with hay. Any suggestions on exactly what I should do with these chicks? I am thinking of letting Mom bring them up as they too will be free roamers. I closed the cage door because it will be quite a drop if one happens to climb up 3 inches and fall out. I will definitely post photo's.........I am so excited~!!! I just got 2 baby geese that I have been having a ball with BUT my Jenny and Mufahsa don't like them very much. I am hoping they all learn to coincide.
I am not sure if I should put on gloves and remove the mother to inspect the babies and then put her back or just let nature take it's course???? Any suggestions are much apprciated and as I said I will get pictures tonight in a few minutes.
