Wanting to hatch chicks with a broody

[Diveks]

Chicks tend to take on quite a bit of the temperament of their mother. Your best bet is to not handle them much and just provide their food and water. They could still end up pretty friendly, but that will likely change when they move to your friends place.

maybe just giving them food and water and letting the mom do everything should do? I have no experience free ranging, as i fence them in because of having polish, silkies and other breeds not meant to free range.

The chicks are white leghorns and RIRs, how to raise them to be cautious of other animals like cats? my chickens are used to having dogs around and are mostly okay with them. I'm just worried these chickens will fall prey to something they think is friendly. No wild dogs around my friends place but they do have stray cats.

Their chickens are pretty wildish, wont go too close to people but 1-2 meter away is fine. And their breeds are okay with defending themselves from predators. guessing leghorns and RIRs should be okay? especially with roos around?

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

maybe just giving them food and water and letting the mom do everything should do? I have no experience free ranging, as i fence them in because of having polish, silkies and other breeds not meant to free range.

The chicks are white leghorns and RIRs, how to raise them to be cautious of other animals like cats? my chickens are used to having dogs around and are mostly okay with them. I'm just worried these chickens will fall prey to something they think is friendly. No wild dogs around my friends place but they do have stray cats.

Their chickens are pretty wildish, wont go too close to people but 1-2 meter away is fine. And their breeds are okay with defending themselves from predators. guessing leghorns and RIRs should be okay? especially with roos around?

They will learn from the other chickens they will be around. A cat isn't a huge threat to an adult standard size bird, I mean there is a risk but I've seen my chickens scare off cats.

 

[Diveks]

They will learn from the other chickens they will be around. A cat isn't a huge threat to an adult standard size bird, I mean there is a risk but I've seen my chickens scare off cats.

Ohh so a cat shouldn’t be too much of a threat to a grown chicken then. Are broodies supposed to be this friendly? She let be pick up her chicks and guide them back under her as they were screaming trying to go back under.

I also did the cluck cluck noise i usually did to her when she was a chick to offer her some food and she started copying me and one of the chicks started pecking at my hand, maybe getting them a tiny bit tame wouldn’t hurt .Just have never interacted with a chick with their mom around. 1 RIR and 1 leghorn chick out, 2 more pipping, 1 was infertile, 1 seems okay but is a bit slow on pipping.

I will be watching the slow one as her chicks already started hatching yesterday (i miscalculated, yesterday was actually day 21). just worried As i heard about some slow hatching chicks might get left behind.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Ohh so a cat shouldn’t be too much of a threat to a grown chicken then. Are broodies supposed to be this friendly? She let be pick up her chicks and guide them back under her as they were screaming trying to go back under.

I also did the cluck cluck noise i usually did to her when she was a chick to offer her some food and she started copying me and one of the chicks started pecking at my hand, maybe getting them a tiny bit tame wouldn’t hurt .Just have never interacted with a chick with their mom around. 1 RIR and 1 leghorn chick out, 2 more pipping, 1 was infertile, 1 seems okay but is a bit slow on pipping.

I will be watching the slow one as her chicks already started hatching yesterday (i miscalculated, yesterday was actually day 21). just worried As i heard about some slow hatching chicks might get left behind.

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Pop some chick feed and a chick safe waterer near enough to her she can reach if she stretches. The chicks will find the food and water, and she may sit for long enough for all to hatch that will hatch. She will get the hang of it, and you've got them in a small enough area they won't get easily lost. She sounds like she trusts you and that's why she's ok with you handling the chicks.
If she gets up before all have hatched you can try putting the eggs in the incubator and then putting the chicks back under her when they are fluffy. Night time is best to do that. I haven't tried that myself, any eggs left after the hen gets up I dispose of, it's survival of the fittest here, but it's a common practice to pop day old chicks under a hen.

 

[Diveks]

Pop some chick feed and a chick safe waterer near enough to her she can reach if she stretches. The chicks will find the food and water, and she may sit for long enough for all to hatch that will hatch. She will get the hang of it, and you've got them in a small enough area they won't get easily lost. She sounds like she trusts you and that's why she's ok with you handling the chicks.
If she gets up before all have hatched you can try putting the eggs in the incubator and then putting the chicks back under her when they are fluffy. Night time is best to do that. I haven't tried that myself, any eggs left after the hen gets up I dispose of, it's survival of the fittest here, but it's a common practice to pop day old chicks under a hen.

I’ve put her food and waterer down on the floor as i had them raised off of the ground before. Ill watch her just in case she leaves one of the eggs. Can’t wait to see her stand up with all of her chicks visible!

Wow i’m actually so happy she gets to raise ‘her own’ little chicks! I hatched her out and she was my first chicken 6 years ago. She was imprinted on me and I would always take her out to educate people about show chickens. Sadly her sister passed last year, hoping to have her for many more years. How long do chickens actually live for?

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I’ve put her food and waterer down on the floor as i had them raised off of the ground before. Ill watch her just in case she leaves one of the eggs. Can’t wait to see her stand up with all of her chicks visible!

Wow i’m actually so happy she gets to raise ‘her own’ little chicks! I hatched her out and she was my first chicken 6 years ago. She was imprinted on me and I would always take her out to educate people about show chickens. Sadly her sister passed last year, hoping to have her for many more years. How long do chickens actually live for?

How long chickens live for is very individual. Anything from 5-10 years for a non-commercial chicken, depending on breed and the individual chicken. We had a hen that must have been at least 9 years old when I was a kid.

I just wanted to say, the number of weeks she wants to spend mothering the chicks is very individual too. She might have had enough in as little as 4 weeks or still be mothering them for as long as 10 weeks. In my opinion it is best to wait until then hen has indicated she is fully done with the chicks before you rehome them (she will want to sleep with the main flock and start driving the chicks away from her food and space). Much less stressful for everyone if you wait for nature to do its thing.

 

[Diveks]

How long chickens live for is very individual. Anything from 5-10 years for a non-commercial chicken, depending on breed and the individual chicken. We had a hen that must have been at least 9 years old when I was a kid.

I just wanted to say, the number of weeks she wants to spend mothering the chicks is very individual too. She might have had enough in as little as 4 weeks or still be mothering them for as long as 10 weeks. In my opinion it is best to wait until then hen has indicated she is fully done with the chicks before you rehome them (she will want to sleep with the main flock and start driving the chicks away from her food and space). Much less stressful for everyone if you wait for nature to do its thing.

hoping ill have many more years with her. Think ill give away the chicks once they are almost fully grown anyway so that they can be safely free ranged. I heard when the are weaning the chicks from them they might get a bit agressive with them, how much aggression is too much?

 

[Diveks]

Okay they are all out! One died in the shell unfortunately.. these fluffballs are so cute. I held some food for her and she called the chicks over to my hand.

They all climbed all over my hand. I’m sure she is a good momma she is teaching them to eat and drink.