Kiraeh
Songster
My first serious broody hen hatched five chicks a month ago, here she is, very smug about it.
Bantam Cochin so she got all bantam eggs, every chick different.
A week later, the layer chicks I'd ordered at the feed store arrive. Since I'd ordered them, I've hatched chicks, hatched more chicks, and bought an entire brooder box of chicks, so I don't reeeealy need em any more but what can you do, chicken math.
Anyways, I look at them, they're hearty little nuggets and about the same size as the week old bantam chicks. So I tuck a few under mom and watch carefully. The rest go in the brooder.
Success? Mostly, at least. Mom can't count, and I'm beginning to think none of the chicks she hatched are hers either anyways. They take a couple days to get as tightly grafted to her as the others, and that's where I went wrong- my run is uncovered and a crow took advantage and got the white layer chick. A sad learning experience for me.
The two remaining do great, they keep up no problem, and with momma to teach them how to forage they're way ahead of their brooder siblings in behaviour.
Where they don't keep up is size and feathering. It was a bigger difference at two weeks, but here's the comparison at three between the broody-raised chicks and the brooder-raised ones.
In the past week, mama has gotten fed up with them. She roosts at night where they can't follow, has stopped picking food for them. They're not bothered though, it's warm and they're fully integrated into the flock.
Just thought I'd share how that experiment worked out! I wish I'd had a broody enough hen to try this with meat chicks(those came just a week ago, too late for this hen and she's too tiny a bantam anyways, I know it's not recommended but this was so successful it makes me really curious if it would be a good method for someone who's looking to raise meat kings to maturity to breed meat mutts- which it one of my goals.
Bantam Cochin so she got all bantam eggs, every chick different.
A week later, the layer chicks I'd ordered at the feed store arrive. Since I'd ordered them, I've hatched chicks, hatched more chicks, and bought an entire brooder box of chicks, so I don't reeeealy need em any more but what can you do, chicken math.
Anyways, I look at them, they're hearty little nuggets and about the same size as the week old bantam chicks. So I tuck a few under mom and watch carefully. The rest go in the brooder.
Success? Mostly, at least. Mom can't count, and I'm beginning to think none of the chicks she hatched are hers either anyways. They take a couple days to get as tightly grafted to her as the others, and that's where I went wrong- my run is uncovered and a crow took advantage and got the white layer chick. A sad learning experience for me.
The two remaining do great, they keep up no problem, and with momma to teach them how to forage they're way ahead of their brooder siblings in behaviour.
Where they don't keep up is size and feathering. It was a bigger difference at two weeks, but here's the comparison at three between the broody-raised chicks and the brooder-raised ones.
In the past week, mama has gotten fed up with them. She roosts at night where they can't follow, has stopped picking food for them. They're not bothered though, it's warm and they're fully integrated into the flock.
Just thought I'd share how that experiment worked out! I wish I'd had a broody enough hen to try this with meat chicks(those came just a week ago, too late for this hen and she's too tiny a bantam anyways, I know it's not recommended but this was so successful it makes me really curious if it would be a good method for someone who's looking to raise meat kings to maturity to breed meat mutts- which it one of my goals.
