Wow! Just Wow! So Amazing!

[BirdMom]

Sounds like you're doing an awesome job with her. As others have said, I'm sure she'll be fine in the cage till the weather is a bit better. The chicks do like to start exploring very early on in life, and it sounds like they're doing great with such voracious appetites.

You might want to put more feed in there for her if it seems she's not getting enough, just a dish of it. That's really cute that she's breaking the crumbles in half to feed the babies. Absolutely amazing what these animals can do.

I do hope you find your other hen. Maybe she went off to find a nest site and go broody too.

 

[Hopefully]

Quote:
She seems fine in the cage now that I'm leaving the door open. Even though she hardly goes out, I guess she feels less trapped since she's always been free-range. I put in a bowl full of feed that the chicks are way too small to reach. She eats that when she just wants to eat. I noticed that when she wants the chicks to eat, she sprinkles the food everywhere, as if she's teaching them how to find the food, not just have it given to them. Sometimes she picks up a piece of food with her beak, drops it, and clucks at the chicks until one of them finds it and eats it. It's great watching them, the way she teaches them.

I'm a bit scared to reach my hand in there. She is so protective. If you come and watch, she'll give you "the eye" and keep wary of you. When I put food and water inside, she is extremely wary. Just imagine if I tried to hold a chick! But I need to socialize them.. any advice?

I found my other hen

She's a white hen named Lucy, much bigger than Mama Hen but nice, so I hope introductions go well when the weather gets less stormy. The chicks will probably be bigger and less fragile by then. And Mama hen and Lucy have known each other since they were only days old.. hmm

But I did find Lucy. One moment she was gone, and then she was back, pulling worms from the ground and enjoying herself. She doesn't mind the weather at all. My silly girl

 

[Hopefully]

UPDATE: The sun finally came up, so it's a bit warmer outside. I got mama hen and her 2 chicks and put them outside. She hopped out of the cage first, leaving the chicks behind to go forage. I took out the 2 chicks and they followed after her. She's digging around for bugs, and the chicks are eating bugs as well-one had a beetle hanging out of her mouth! Yuck!

I got Lucy, my other hen, and put her beside the little family. Mama hen flapped her wings and then calmed down. Lucy examined the chicks from a few feet away, found they weren't very interesting, and went off to forage across the yard.

I am so worried about the chicks! Someone help me relax?! Mama hen is walking too fast, the chicks are running to keep up with her, lol. What if they get lost? Fall behind?

I'm keeping my cat inside until the chicks get bigger (she's friends with the hens, though, but not risking it with tiny chicks) but my basset hound is good with babies. Trust me. She won't harm a fly. I just have to let her sniff them when I let her back outside and she'll become their "guardian".

But still, so nervous! What if Mama hen leads them somewhere else? What if it rains again? Will they be OK? Where will they sleep at night?

Ugh I can't put my mind to rest, I keep checking on them every 5 minutes and they look fine. But still...anything can happen... oh, I hope nothing does...

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

You are doing a great job! What fun to have this little miracle to watch. I have loved your stories about Mama Hen teaching her little ones. Do you have any kind of fence around them?

 

[PortageGirl]

Do you have a coop??? Where do they sleep at night normally??

 

[Hopefully]

We have a fence, but no coop. Our bantam hens roam free. At night they usually roost up in a tree or on the shelf we made for them. But since the chicks cannot fly... where will they sleep?!
Chances of survival?
And any info how a mother hen takes care of her chicks outside? Lots of info please? If you can't find any, that's OK.

I checked on them just now. They seem fine. Our other hen looks curious but won't get close. Mama Hen is showing her chicks all kinds of bugs to eat. She's giving them a tour all over the yard.

You know she wasn't in the yard and then all of a suddenly she came back with chicks? I'm wondering if that means a nest is close by... and if there's a hole on the bottom of the fence somewhere..do you think she will go back to the nest at night?

I'm a nervous wreck! Ahh!

 

[WitksChicks]

Great story! It's amazing that you even heard them peeping outside, if it was thundering and lightening out.

Hope they are hens!!

 

[MissJenny]

Did I read that right? You have no coop? So, where do your hens go when it rains? And what are they going to do when it gets cold? Are there no predators where you live? No raccoons? No possum?Or have you just been lucky thus far?

I would think with new babies and winter coming on a coop is needed... something they can be locked into at night. This is such a great story -- I would hate to see it end badly. How many hens do you have?

Jenny

 

[PortageGirl]

She may try to get to the nest she hatched them in, but more likely she'll find a place in the yard that feels safe. I'd rig some kind of shelter for her at the very least. Maybe a dog house, a box of some sort, maybe a box on its side , up on some bricks if it's wet all around, drape with some plastic etc... It won't keep her safe from preditors though... of course, since she sounds so friendly you could bring her in again overnight then put her back out in the AM for another few days. mama will do her best to keep them safe, but yeah, she's just a chicken.

 

[Hopefully]

I have 1 other hen. I did have 4 hens in all and 2 roosters, but we gave the roosters to my grandma and felt it'd be mean not to give them a lady each. That left us with only 2 hens

I LOVE the idea of bringing them in the evening and putting them out in the morning. That makes me feel so much better. I went outside with the cage, got Mama Hen first and put her inside. BIG MISTAKE! She went crazy! She screeched, banged against the cage, crying for her chicks. The chicks went frantic. I freaked, took the chicks, and put them with their mom. She's calming down now, inside with a blanket over the cage so she can sleep better. Whew! I learned from that! Any better ideas how to get them in... chicks first, right?

Chicks peep so much! How come? I took one chick in another room and she peeped more loudly than usual. I guess she wanted her mama.
I messed with them enough today, time to let them sleep.

Hopefully they'll get used to the new routine.