- Jul 21, 2014
- 17
- 1
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I'm pretty excited about our adventure with our chickens today so wanted to share. I have been a long time lurker and learned so much on this forum!
We got 5 chicks three years ago. In the past several months, we lost two -- one to a predator, and one to illness. Of the remaining hens, two are black sex links and one is a mystery hen. She's a pretty brown thing with feathers on her feet, but the farmer I got her from didn't know what cross she was. Well, whatever she is, she goes broody at the drop of a hat. Spring through fall, she'll go broody, spend time in the broody breaker, then two weeks later she is trying to hatch the eggs again.
Being down to 3 hens and the brown one not laying because she is too busy being broody yet again, I decided to pick up two chicks at a Chick Day event here. At first I planned to raise them in a brooder like my original hens, but then I thought of my broody hen. Late last night I decided to set her up to adopt our new chicks. I dug up a big old rabbit cage, improvised a nest box, and moved her into it with an egg to sit on. She sat there all day today (in our office, haha), with no idea we had two adorable chicks in the next room.
By the way, the hen's name is Patty Sandwich.
So anyway, we could hardly wait until dark. The chicks spent the day sometimes under a heat lamp and sometimes curled up under someone's chin. As soon as it was dark in Patty Sandwich's little nest area, my daughter and I sneaked into the room. I carefully reached under Patty Sandwich to remove the egg she was sitting on. Then, my daughter handed me the chicks and I quietly tucked them next to Patty Sandwich. Patty Sandwich seemed unsure of what was happening, but as it was mostly dark in the room we couldn't tell what she was doing.
Suddenly, Patty Sandwich went into full out panic mode! She started squawking and attacking the side of the cage. In all her time as being broody, she's never been aggressive or even protested having eggs taken right out from under her, so her sudden rage really threw me. Right then I realized my dog, who Patty Sandwich has always just ignored, had come into the dark office to see what we were up to and Patty Sandwich decided she needed to kill that poor dog. In all the chaos, for a few seconds I couldn't tell if Patty Sandwich was trying to kill the chicks or what, and God only knows what those poor chicks thought was going on! I have never heard a chicken make noise like that in my whole three years of having a little backyard flock!
Once we got the dog chased out of the office, Patty Sandwich settled right down with her new babies. Apparently as soon as she heard the chicks peeping, she decided she was all in and would defend them from all threats, canine or otherwise. She right away started clucking gently at them and making this sort of purring noise. It was adorable. After a couple of minutes she got both chicks underneath her and settled right down. I've been in to check on them a couple of times and both babies are somewhere underneath Patty Sandwich, occasionally peeping a bit but overall seeming content. I can't wait to see them all together in the morning!
We decided to name the babies Teriyaki (she's a cuckoo maran) and Dumpling (a dark brahma). Our other two sex links don't have names because we can't tell them apart.
Happy Chick Day!
We got 5 chicks three years ago. In the past several months, we lost two -- one to a predator, and one to illness. Of the remaining hens, two are black sex links and one is a mystery hen. She's a pretty brown thing with feathers on her feet, but the farmer I got her from didn't know what cross she was. Well, whatever she is, she goes broody at the drop of a hat. Spring through fall, she'll go broody, spend time in the broody breaker, then two weeks later she is trying to hatch the eggs again.
Being down to 3 hens and the brown one not laying because she is too busy being broody yet again, I decided to pick up two chicks at a Chick Day event here. At first I planned to raise them in a brooder like my original hens, but then I thought of my broody hen. Late last night I decided to set her up to adopt our new chicks. I dug up a big old rabbit cage, improvised a nest box, and moved her into it with an egg to sit on. She sat there all day today (in our office, haha), with no idea we had two adorable chicks in the next room.
By the way, the hen's name is Patty Sandwich.
So anyway, we could hardly wait until dark. The chicks spent the day sometimes under a heat lamp and sometimes curled up under someone's chin. As soon as it was dark in Patty Sandwich's little nest area, my daughter and I sneaked into the room. I carefully reached under Patty Sandwich to remove the egg she was sitting on. Then, my daughter handed me the chicks and I quietly tucked them next to Patty Sandwich. Patty Sandwich seemed unsure of what was happening, but as it was mostly dark in the room we couldn't tell what she was doing.
Suddenly, Patty Sandwich went into full out panic mode! She started squawking and attacking the side of the cage. In all her time as being broody, she's never been aggressive or even protested having eggs taken right out from under her, so her sudden rage really threw me. Right then I realized my dog, who Patty Sandwich has always just ignored, had come into the dark office to see what we were up to and Patty Sandwich decided she needed to kill that poor dog. In all the chaos, for a few seconds I couldn't tell if Patty Sandwich was trying to kill the chicks or what, and God only knows what those poor chicks thought was going on! I have never heard a chicken make noise like that in my whole three years of having a little backyard flock!
Once we got the dog chased out of the office, Patty Sandwich settled right down with her new babies. Apparently as soon as she heard the chicks peeping, she decided she was all in and would defend them from all threats, canine or otherwise. She right away started clucking gently at them and making this sort of purring noise. It was adorable. After a couple of minutes she got both chicks underneath her and settled right down. I've been in to check on them a couple of times and both babies are somewhere underneath Patty Sandwich, occasionally peeping a bit but overall seeming content. I can't wait to see them all together in the morning!
We decided to name the babies Teriyaki (she's a cuckoo maran) and Dumpling (a dark brahma). Our other two sex links don't have names because we can't tell them apart.
Happy Chick Day!
You're now required to post pictures of your chicks tomorrow. 
