Our BO hatched out all of her eight eggs and Mama and babies have been doing well for two weeks. They have been living in a very small little pen in the sand covered covered chicken run, and for the last week or so we've been moving them into a covered 6 X 8 dog kennel on the grass once it is dry in the late morning.
We have another hen going broody, and she seems determined. She has spent most of the time the last three days in a nest box, but does become disturbed when I go into the coop. She is much feistier than the first broody was, and bites HARD if I feel under her, but also got so upset yesterday she did jump off the nest for a few hours and ran around with the flock. I'm wondering if I should move her to the more secluded pen that had a doggie carrier in it that has been the first broody's home for the last five weeks. (There are no eggs under her yet, we're waiting to see if the broodiness "sticks.")
This rearrangement would entail moving Mama and eight two week-old chicks full time into the kennel out on the lawn. My only concern is that in the morning the grass is very dewy until 10:30 or so. Won't the chicks get wet and become chilled?
We've had some cold nights in the last two weeks, and I was shocked to see the chicks up and out from under Mama when the temps were in the low 40s, so maybe they are much tougher than I give them credit for. They only occasionally spend time under her now during daylight hours, with daytime temps ranging anywhere from the low 60s to the low 90s. (This is a far cry from when I brooded their aunts and uncles, and reduced the brooder temps an agonizingly slow 5 degrees a week.)
So wet grass and chicks? What do you say?
We have another hen going broody, and she seems determined. She has spent most of the time the last three days in a nest box, but does become disturbed when I go into the coop. She is much feistier than the first broody was, and bites HARD if I feel under her, but also got so upset yesterday she did jump off the nest for a few hours and ran around with the flock. I'm wondering if I should move her to the more secluded pen that had a doggie carrier in it that has been the first broody's home for the last five weeks. (There are no eggs under her yet, we're waiting to see if the broodiness "sticks.")
This rearrangement would entail moving Mama and eight two week-old chicks full time into the kennel out on the lawn. My only concern is that in the morning the grass is very dewy until 10:30 or so. Won't the chicks get wet and become chilled?
We've had some cold nights in the last two weeks, and I was shocked to see the chicks up and out from under Mama when the temps were in the low 40s, so maybe they are much tougher than I give them credit for. They only occasionally spend time under her now during daylight hours, with daytime temps ranging anywhere from the low 60s to the low 90s. (This is a far cry from when I brooded their aunts and uncles, and reduced the brooder temps an agonizingly slow 5 degrees a week.)
So wet grass and chicks? What do you say?
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