This hen (who has no name) had actually already hatched eggs just a couple of months ago. She did an excellent job of sitting on the eggs, but when they hatched she did a terrible job. She killed her first chick, pecked at the subsequent ones, and then she abandoned the nest. Bad mama!!!
So when she went broody this time, I let her sit on the eggs, but I was a little anxious about what would happen when it was hatching day. I had hoped to put her eggs under another hen to finish the job, but since we have no other broodies right now, that wasn't an option.
As hatching day neared, I regularly checked under her for new chicks and observed her with them. It didn't look like she was trying kill them, but I couldn't be sure. So just to be safe, I set them aside in a separate box. You can see that some of the chicks are still new and their feathers have not yet fluffed out.
After more observation of the mama hen, I decided it was worth a try to put the chicks back with her. Besides, it's a lot of work hand-raising chicks and I'd rather the hen did the job! While the hen didn't try to kill the chicks, she also didn't quite know what to do with them. Here she is in her cage frozen in confusion. (Mama hens are usually either sitting with the chicks underneath them or walking around showing their chicks where to find food.)
It took a couple of days, but she finally got the hang of it.
Everyone wins - the chicks get their mama; the hen gets to experience motherhood; and I get less chicken work!
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