posted 10 years ago
Well, we got our answer.
After 8 chicks, "Pen Mama" abandoned the rest of the eggs. One chick actually hatched that day, but she wouldn't keep it warm. The little guy would follow her, but she was busy giving lessons to the others to give it any attention or warmth. My wife called me and told me that the new chick wasn't going to make it. I got home and realized that the little chick was just cold. Really cold. So I reversed things, and put him under "coop mama".
Coop mama happily accepted the chick and chick dove under her. Excellent! The next day was when we realized that the mama in the pen had abandoned the last four eggs, and they were stone cold. Apparently, eight chicks was her limit. Or perhaps, it was more about the timing. Now she is in teach mode, not sit on eggs mode.
Anyway, we put the cold egggs under "coop mama" but after a couple of days, she rolled them out of the nest. They had died. But she continued to hatch chicks from the eggs she was sitting on. The other morning, I went to check on her, and I was surprised to see four happily peeping chicks!
Now we were in a quandry. Do we try to put the four new ones out in the pen with the others, or do we let coop bird try to raise them in the main chicken yard?
All seemed well in the coop for 2 days, but then I witnessed one of the red hens attack one of the chicks when it walked near her. I rescued it, but it was clear that the chicks are not safe in there. When I put the four new ckicks in the pen, they ran right to mama and snuggled into her feathers. BUT she cocked her head, looking at them funny. She got up, sniffed the new chicks, and started beating them violently!
Long story short, the mama hens do not get along, so I ended up building a second nursery pen, and now the two hens and 12 chicks are doing quite well. There are two eggs left, and another broody brahma is sitting on them. This has been an interesting learning experience.
-TH