Why would broody mom abandoned 2wk old chicks today?????

callahanfarmgirl

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My RIR hen goes broody serveral times a yr. This last time I gave her 4 eggs, only 2 were fertile & for the last 4 days I have been letting her out to free range during the day with her 2 chicks & she has been doing a wonderful job with them even putting herself & the chicks up at night in their dog crate seperate from the coop.
Tonight we went out to dinner & came home at dusk to see the 2 chicks in the yard & no momma!! She was in the coop, on the roost, with the rest of the chickens. So I am wondering has she abandoned them for good or if I let her see them in the morning will she pick up were she left off??

If she still wants nothing to do with them I am thinking about taking the dog crate out of the workshop & put it in the coop with my 12wk olds so the group could get acquainted. I just was not ready for her to abandon them like this!!!!
 
The 12 week olds may hurt them. They really need to be closer in size to whatever birds you want to integrate them with. If momma is done then you will need to set up a brooder for them as they need access to heat until all their feathers come in.
 

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