- Apr 2, 2011
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I have a small flock of 2 black tailed white Japanese bantam hens and one black tailed white Japanese bantam rooster in their own (huge!) coop. I allowed one hen to nest on her eggs for the first time 21 days ago. Sure enough, the other hen wanted in on the fun! They both went broody on the same nest and together they began the agonizing journey of incubating 13 eggs. Now, remember these are itty bitty bantam hens! Eggs were practically oozing out from underneath them! Anyways, I numbered the 13 eggs and candeled them all twice. I was shocked to see that all 13 eggs appeared to be perfectly healthy! Day 21 (today!) came along. 13 chicks hatched! This is rather unusual seeing that 25% of Japanese bantams die in the egg from a lethal gene. This was the first time these incredibly young and tiny mothers have raised chicks, and it appears that all has gone perfectly well!
P.S.- In case you were wondering about the custody of the chicks, both hens have so far stayed close together and treated all of the chicks like their own. Hopefully we won't have to get any lawyers involved as the chicks begin to explore
P.S.- In case you were wondering about the custody of the chicks, both hens have so far stayed close together and treated all of the chicks like their own. Hopefully we won't have to get any lawyers involved as the chicks begin to explore
