Hi, peeple!
One of our silkies has been broody for almost a week and I’d had her in broody jail for 2 days when a friend asked us to take 2 of his new mail order chicks. He ordered 6 and received 8, all healthy, alive, and kicking. I took our broody out of jail and have let her be in the nesting box with fake eggs the last three days. The chicks were hatched May 17, we had them in our brooder last night (May 20), and I introduced them this morning (May 21). I’m wondering what is good mom behavior?
Cupid, our broody silky/foster mom, has never hatched or raised chicks before. I put some of her bedding in with the chicks last night, and some of their bedding in with Cupid last night hoping that would familiarize scents a bit. I’ve blocked a section of our nesting boxes off for Cupid and the chicks with chick food and electrolyte water.
This morning, I tucked them under her and took the fake eggs away and then I helicopter-mommed them for a few hours. She let them stay but initially pecked at them and seemed like she was thinking “WTF are these small cheeping things?!”, and she pecked again when they hopped on her back. So far, that’s all the pecking I’ve seen from her. I’ve tucked the chicks back under her a number of times and she (and they) seem mostly ok with that. I did catch her nuzzling one chick back underneath her the way she would move an egg, and I haven’t heard loud cheeping like they’re in distress. The chicks often seem to be out from under her when I peek in, and she has stayed put as if she’s still sitting on eggs.
Would you call this a pretty successful introduction or do chick of this age (hatched May 17) really need to be under the hen almost all the time? (We’re in SoCal so daytime temp is almost 80F and coop is in the sun until our shade cover vines grow higher) Would there be more pecking and squeeling and cheeping if she was rejecting the chicks? How do you “know” you’re in the clear and can trust a foster mom hen with the babies? How do you know the chicks have accepted her, or do they pretty much accept any heat source? What is good mothering behavior vs bad?
Thank you!
One of our silkies has been broody for almost a week and I’d had her in broody jail for 2 days when a friend asked us to take 2 of his new mail order chicks. He ordered 6 and received 8, all healthy, alive, and kicking. I took our broody out of jail and have let her be in the nesting box with fake eggs the last three days. The chicks were hatched May 17, we had them in our brooder last night (May 20), and I introduced them this morning (May 21). I’m wondering what is good mom behavior?
Cupid, our broody silky/foster mom, has never hatched or raised chicks before. I put some of her bedding in with the chicks last night, and some of their bedding in with Cupid last night hoping that would familiarize scents a bit. I’ve blocked a section of our nesting boxes off for Cupid and the chicks with chick food and electrolyte water.
This morning, I tucked them under her and took the fake eggs away and then I helicopter-mommed them for a few hours. She let them stay but initially pecked at them and seemed like she was thinking “WTF are these small cheeping things?!”, and she pecked again when they hopped on her back. So far, that’s all the pecking I’ve seen from her. I’ve tucked the chicks back under her a number of times and she (and they) seem mostly ok with that. I did catch her nuzzling one chick back underneath her the way she would move an egg, and I haven’t heard loud cheeping like they’re in distress. The chicks often seem to be out from under her when I peek in, and she has stayed put as if she’s still sitting on eggs.
Would you call this a pretty successful introduction or do chick of this age (hatched May 17) really need to be under the hen almost all the time? (We’re in SoCal so daytime temp is almost 80F and coop is in the sun until our shade cover vines grow higher) Would there be more pecking and squeeling and cheeping if she was rejecting the chicks? How do you “know” you’re in the clear and can trust a foster mom hen with the babies? How do you know the chicks have accepted her, or do they pretty much accept any heat source? What is good mothering behavior vs bad?
Thank you!
