Six Chicks Hatched from our "Feral" Hen - Now What, if Anything? Suggestions, Please.

tacCab

In the Brooder
Jan 20, 2019
7
27
44
Central Texas
Good Morning Backyard Friends!

I hope your morning is as Glorious as ours, here, in Central Texas!

Good news this morning from our lil' homestead. We have our first hatched baby chicks from one of our rescued hens (Henrietta). She was and continues to be feral.

Henrietta's History: Henrietta was among 17 feral pullets we gave sanctuary to when they were rounded up from a local horse boarding operation. Someone had left chickens when they vacated, nature took it's course and the owners ended up with a bunch of feral chicks running around, sleeping in trees. We took them all. In my research over the last 20 days, I read that hens who were hatched by their mother tended to do so themselves. She is proving it. She has faithfully stayed on her eggs the entire 20 days! We saw evidence of her getting up for drink, food and pooping but never saw her do so.

Brooding History: I moved her to our small, intermittently used chicken coop on night one of her brood. My husband beefed up the wire mesh, divided the coop (we originally thought we had two broody) and the nesting boxes. When we moved her in the middle of the first night, I just left the towel as i thought it might help her focus to feel "tented", not to mention less drafty. I wanted her to be successful which I defined as ONE hatched chick! We now have SIX! We are so pleased!

Question/Request: I am in need of guidance from those of you doing this before me. I am just not sure what to do now to assist her in successfully raising her young and then integrating them all back in with the rest of the flock. Your suggestions are welcomed. To help you help me, I am including pics and a short video of our current set-up. (Please note: I am about to put a heat lamp in the coop as it is about 69* here this morning.)

Video/Pics: Six Chicks Hatched from our "Feral" Hen - Now What?

Thank you in advance!
 

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