What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

Well, then, we girls and DH get 4 months more of peace. At least they don't beat each other up.
Anyone else?

No, 12 months the clock starts now. Or summer and anytime after spring.

How many girls do you have?

 

[ChicksnMore]

I decided to lock the two hormonal teenager boys up. The girls were a lot calmer, and the cellmates even got a group visit from them. It's not as nerve wracking to be out there not having to have eyes on the back of my head constantly. Not sure how long their sentence will be. What say you all? They are 8 months old on the 29th.

I usually do a month in the bachelor pad to break fighting...if it's harassing the ladies then I have no idea...but twelve months sounds good

Oh I'm so sorry yall lost one!
Sir Clucks is sounding good though!
Is this their first set of babies?

First time to hatch and raise the babies all natural. They've raised babies together before but I've always hatched the eggs in the incubator and brought mom in when they hatch for a little bit. Made sure mom was brooding about a month before the eggs hatched so she was ready for babies. Then when I took them out, mom and babies got a safety cage in the coop for a little bit. Once every one understood what chicks are, they pitched in and acted like family. This is their third year/time raising chicks but first time all natural.

I don't know if it's inexperience or what, but last time I tried letting a mom hatch her own babies all but 1 died the first day. Some in the nest and some as they left the nest. The other chickens attacked the babies and the mom couldn't protect them all. It was a small flock of six midget birds in a 6x10 run with coop attached so don't think space was an issue.

This time I could see the chickens excitement but they were making gentle sounds. So I just watched until the first chick came out of the nest to see if anyone attacked it. No one did so I've let them be.

Has anyone else tried letting a mom hatch and raise their own babies? Really curious if my experience is run of the mill chicken behavior for the first time a flock experiences hatching. I can definitely see a difference in how the flock responds to babies this year though. This time has been all pleasure. It's my first time letting a mom hatch/raise her own babies too. Not counting the last try years ago since it didn't work and I took away the last baby.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I have hatched quite a few via broody moms- not all on purpose lol as I had some wild girls with hella instincts that were a bit of a pain. When I do get on board with my girls sitting, my best experience is locking mom in a broody coop (pen?) During her sit so other hens don't add eggs (opening up for dust baths daily till lockdown) hatch and till the babies are a few days old.

I tend to override the mom on this one, she is ready to take babies out pretty quick but I am not as the Bigs will peck. One peck can mean death or worse.
I will let the flock out to free range and then let her and chicks out to have the run when chicks are about 5 days old. I sometimes will lock out the flock from the run as it is best when mom and chicks are alone the first few weeks. Basically more meet and greet through a fence. When I do keep run open I keep a good eye on and make sure they have plenty safe space to get away.

Muliti coop. I can remove a partition when they are ready to roost as a unit. Mom will abandon them after a few months and go back to her flock.
My whole back chicken area is partitioned off with fences and gates. Like mini horse corrals.

My day brooder/play pen has also worked well for the safe separate but together growing out of babies. Made from scraps cept the wire.

This was my first momma brooder grow out/ isolation/ intro coop made mostly from scraps. The theory really worked so DH improved on it.

 

[TropicalBabies]

No, 12 months the clock starts now. Or summer and anytime after spring.

How many girls do you have?

I'm like half joking. But lock them up and see how YOU feel. How your GIRLS feel. Just take them out of the mix and give the drama a break for a bit. Enjoy the calm ♥︎. I'd think about making a choice to just let one back out. The one who is calm and shows promise. Unless you are breeding or have a large freerange flock I think 2 boys out would be more pain than it is worth. If you love your second boy maybe make a second coop and run and separate your flock- 9 girl minimum. With all of your spare time and energy and money... and materials...that is
My favorite shirt slogan is "Boys are bad. Throw rocks at them" it totally applies to cockerels and some roos.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

I lost my little Cochin baby and I have NO idea what was wrong. She hatched out on her own and did such a good job. That is 2 Cochins that have just died on me. The only 2 to hatch. I have 2 more in the incubator so I guess we will see how that goes. I have 3 more littles that have hatched though. One being a Pavlovskaya.

 

[Shetland lover]

Thanks for the advice about the boys, all. So far, they are besties again and back to co-operating in looking after the ladies. I really do think Stan has just pushed Ferdy's patience to the limit and he's had to teach Stan it's not acceptable. I've attached some photos of them post fight. I need to get photos of them now as both have black eyes! They were both subject to a severe telling off from Gladys yesterday, it was quite comical to watch. I told her it was a bit late to start disciplining them now!
It was Gladys' 4th birthday yesterday too. I baked her a peanut cake with yoghurt frosting and she gave me an egg, first of the year for her.
The girls are now giving me 4 eggs daily and they're stacking up fast!
I made my mom a rose, raspberry and white chocolate meringue cake with some of the spare eggs. Definitely not up to Popo's standards but it tasted nice.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Thanks for the advice about the boys, all. So far, they are besties again and back to co-operating in looking after the ladies. I really do think Stan has just pushed Ferdy's patience to the limit and he's had to teach Stan it's not acceptable. I've attached some photos of them post fight. I need to get photos of them now as both have black eyes! They were both subject to a severe telling off from Gladys yesterday, it was quite comical to watch. I told her it was a bit late to start disciplining them now!
It was Gladys' 4th birthday yesterday too. I baked her a peanut cake with yoghurt frosting and she gave me an egg, first of the year for her.
The girls are now giving me 4 eggs daily and they're stacking up fast!
I made my mom a rose, raspberry and white chocolate meringue cake with some of the spare eggs. Definitely not up to Popo's standards but it tasted nice.View attachment 3441442View attachment 3441443View attachment 3441446View attachment 3441447View attachment 3441445

I’m glad the boys are doing better now.

You cake look absolutely amazing!!!

 

[Shetland lover]

I usually do a month in the bachelor pad to break fighting...if it's harassing the ladies then I have no idea...but twelve months sounds good

First time to hatch and raise the babies all natural. They've raised babies together before but I've always hatched the eggs in the incubator and brought mom in when they hatch for a little bit. Made sure mom was brooding about a month before the eggs hatched so she was ready for babies. Then when I took them out, mom and babies got a safety cage in the coop for a little bit. Once every one understood what chicks are, they pitched in and acted like family. This is their third year/time raising chicks but first time all natural.

I don't know if it's inexperience or what, but last time I tried letting a mom hatch her own babies all but 1 died the first day. Some in the nest and some as they left the nest. The other chickens attacked the babies and the mom couldn't protect them all. It was a small flock of six midget birds in a 6x10 run with coop attached so don't think space was an issue.

This time I could see the chickens excitement but they were making gentle sounds. So I just watched until the first chick came out of the nest to see if anyone attacked it. No one did so I've let them be.

Has anyone else tried letting a mom hatch and raise their own babies? Really curious if my experience is run of the mill chicken behavior for the first time a flock experiences hatching. I can definitely see a difference in how the flock responds to babies this year though. This time has been all pleasure. It's my first time letting a mom hatch/raise her own babies too. Not counting the last try years ago since it didn't work and

I have very limited hatching experience but out of the 5 chicks I've had, Pru has raised 3 of them successfully from laying them to adulthood. Matilda was raised as a lone chick by me and Penelope murdered her younger sibling, who hatched a week after her.
Pru has done an exceptional job. When she hatched Ferdy and Penelope, I kept her on her own in the small coop but from hatch day I put a metal grille over the door so everyone could visit and get a look at the chicks during the day time. Once she was ready to take them out I made a safe area for them where the girls could look but not touch and by 4 wks they had the run of the garden with everyone. I was cautious about how much interaction I allowed when they were very small as I had 3 standard sized girls mixing with bantam chicks.
When Pru hatched Stanley, I wasn't even aware she'd had an egg stowed away until I lifted her off the nest in the big coop (she'd been broody for 7 wks and I'd decided enough was enough) and discovered couple of hours old Stan. I decided it probably wasn't a good idea to try to move her so I just let them be. The other girls were very curious about him and used to visit about 20 times a day! Sometimes they'd even bring treats for them. I was worried about Ferdy's reaction but he was amazing with Stan from day one. As soon as Stan was old enough to come out, he'd escort them everywhere! He made it his job to bring them both to the back door so they could have breakfast without having to compete with everyone else. He did the same at tea time. He hardly left their side. I put a mesh screen to separate them in the nest box from the ladies at night as Clara tried to evict Pru a few times. The only other 'issue' was Penelope's repeated attempts to steal Stan for herself. She would see him briefly unattended and plop herself down on top of him then look round in all innocence when Pru and Ferdy were frantically hunting for him. Stan spent his first 3 months being terrified of Penelope as a result.
I've never hatched in an incubator so I can't really make a comparison but Matilda was raised in the house on his own and really didn't want to go outside with the 'scary' big ladies . Ferdy and Penelope integrated well quickly, having had more exposure to everyone but i would say Stan, being mixed in with everyone from day 1, has integrated the best. Gladys has a history of being absolutely vile to cockerels but she took to Stan straightaway. I suspect it might be due to him being raised in the big coop with her.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

I have hatched quite a few via broody moms- not all on purpose lol as I had some wild girls with hella instincts that were a bit of a pain. When I do get on board with my girls sitting, my best experience is locking mom in a broody coop (pen?) During her sit so other hens don't add eggs (opening up for dust baths daily till lockdown) hatch and till the babies are a few days old.View attachment 3441334View attachment 3441335View attachment 3441373I tend to override the mom on this one, she is ready to take babies out pretty quick but I am not as the Bigs will peck. One peck can mean death or worse.
I will let the flock out to free range and then let her and chicks out to have the run when chicks are about 5 days old. I sometimes will lock out the flock from the run as it is best when mom and chicks are alone the first few weeks. Basically more meet and greet through a fence. When I do keep run open I keep a good eye on and make sure they have plenty safe space to get away. View attachment 3441338
Muliti coop. I can remove a partition when they are ready to roost as a unit. Mom will abandon them after a few months and go back to her flock.
My whole back chicken area is partitioned off with fences and gates. Like mini horse corrals.

My day brooder/play pen has also worked well for the safe separate but together growing out of babies. Made from scraps cept the wire. View attachment 3441376
This was my first momma brooder grow out/ isolation/ intro coop made mostly from scraps. The theory really worked so DH improved on it.View attachment 3441383

I love your coops and brooders. They are creative and beautiful and so functional!

 

[Shetland lover]

I lost my little Cochin baby and I have NO idea what was wrong. She hatched out on her own and did such a good job. That is 2 Cochins that have just died on me. The only 2 to hatch. I have 2 more in the incubator so I guess we will see how that goes. I have 3 more littles that have hatched though. One being a Pavlovskaya.

Oh no! Poor baby. I'm so sorry
But good news on the other hatches, way to go babies!