WooHoo! I Successfully "Set" my Broody Hen! -Pics, **DAY 18

[DouglasPeeps]

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She looks very serious !

VERY! Hatching eggs is very serious business!

 

[sben451]

I read that you got your Welsummer eggs from okiehen. I got Welsummer eggs from her in late March and all of them hatched (in the incubator). You should have some beautiful chicks from those eggs. Best of luck for a great hatch.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

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Yes, I did! I am glad to hear that you had such a great hatch! Do you have any pictures of your chicks now? I would love to see them.
I will post pictures of mine when they hatch!

 

[lickskillet]

I have a question?. Not to hijack your thread though! But at what point do you put the broody and her chicks back with the rest of the flock? When the chicks reach a certain age? Thanks!

 

[DouglasPeeps]

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I know that I can't put the chicks in with the flock until they are close to the same size. So, my plan is to keep mama hen with them as long as she takes care of them. I am crossing my fingers

and hoping that the flock accepts her back in with them without any problems when the time comes.

I would be interested in hearing other opinions on this....

 

[PhlyinPheBee]

I know that with my broody frizzle I let her out with the flock when the chicks were 3 days old. She was the dominant hen before and let me tell you she never missed a step. Then RIR chicks she hatched out for me will be 5 weeks old on Monday and she is back in the main coop and started laying eggs again this week. The chicks seemed to be a little lost but I guess Mom knows best.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I know that I can't put the chicks in with the flock until they are close to the same size. So, my plan is to keep mama hen with them as long as she takes care of them. I am crossing my fingers

and hoping that the flock accepts her back in with them without any problems when the time comes.

I would be interested in hearing other opinions on this....

She will only mother them for a few weeks, way before they are full size.

In nature, hens nest away from the flock, then bring the chicks into the flock around 2-3 days of age. She lets the other members of the flock know that they must leave her chicks alone. Sometimes other hens or the roo help her raise the chicks. I had a broody in with the flock, and 2 other hens wound up helping her raise the chicks. I do not plan to keep new chicks separated from the flock for more than a day or two.

 

[Chicken Woman]

My broodie is in a large dog crate in the coop so the other girls can see her and the babies. I open the crate everyday and finally on day 4 she brought them out into the run for 2 hours yesterday. It was warm and sunny and they were sooo cute.

My broodie is a bantam so iI was concernd for awhile and I kind of stayed nearby but she did a good job of letting the other girls know Hands Off my babies !

IM hoping this will avoid needing to kepp them away from the flock until they are big ?

 

[sben451]

Here is a picture just after the eggs from okiehen were hatched in April. There are Welsummers and some mutt chicks, also. I'll try to get updated pictures of the Welsummers later today (raining now).

 

[okiehen]

Aww I remember that picture.

I cant wait to see new pictures, can you sex them yet?
The count down is fixing to start. I'm going to get my hen/chick tractor ready before it rains, rain is in the forecast for the next 6 days