New Chicks

So we finally broke down and did it. We got some chicks for our broody hen.

Kendra has been broody since the last week of April, which means it has been about six weeks. A normal hatch takes three and she has shown no signs of wanting to give up, so us being the good chicken parents we are decided that when the local feed store down the street got their last shipment of chicks we’d pick up a few for her if she hadn’t gotten over her broodiness. As luck would have it three of the four breeds they were getting in were ones we wanted with the fourth being one we already had, so if we were going to get chicks that would be as good a time as any.

Now, mind you, this was a crapshoot from the get-go whether or not the hen would take to the new chicks, so just in case I made sure we had everything we needed to brood them in the garage for a few weeks. I had already put Kendra in the brooding cage inside the henhouse in the coop, which in and of itself was an accomplishment as I had wanted to put the cage over the nest boxes but as luck would have it, the cage was less than an inch too big. Instead I placed one end on the ledge to one of the nest boxes and the other on the lower of the two roosts propped up with extra 2x6s to level it out. Ghetto? You betcha. But it is in the coop and the other girls can gawk and still access two of the three nest boxes and get to their preferred upper roost. I put cardboard along the sides where the chicken could peek in just in case any got too curious and wanted to peck the poor little chicks once they were inside or Kendra since broody hens act weird and chickens don’t like weird acting chickens and try to run them off or gang up and kill them.

So yesterday I planted some flowers in the morning and just before ten decided it was time to go to the feed store to see if their shipment had arrived yet. As luck would have it, the guy had just gotten back from the post office and had barely put them in the brooder when I got there. He hadn’t even turned on the heat lamp yet! I felt bad for some of the two week old chicks that hadn’t sold, but we needed day olds if we were going to pull this off, and besides, we already had the breeds of two week olds anyway. Informing the man at the counter that I wanted one Rhode Island Red, one Cuckoo Maran and one Speckled Sussex, he went into the back room and picked them out.

I don’t know what it is about chicks, but they are just so darn cute! Hearing their little peeps from inside the box I had to take a peek at them before taking them out to the car. It seems silly because we’ve done this so many times, but it is just like getting any other pet… you just want to hold them and squeeze them and love them and call them George. Not that any of them will be called George. Actually, I don’t know what we will call any of them just yet as I haven’t really picked out names. The Rhodie will probably be a Willow of some sort because I’m uncreative like that, and I’m leaning towards Harmony for the Maran, but the Sussex I’m not quite sure what to name her. Looks like I’ll have to watch some Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes to figure out a good name!

After bringing them home, I immediately put them into a larger box with a little water and food under a heat lamp to keep them warm. The best time to introduce new chicks to a mother hen is at night after they’ve all gone to roost so we needed to keep them warm until then. I didn’t know if it would be warm enough and waited to see if I needed to move the lamp closer, but they almost immediately stopped peeping when I put them in the box which means the temperature was just right.

And so we waited until about ten at night and my partner and I walked up to the coop with chicks in hand ready to make the swap for the few eggs I had put under Kendra when I transferred her to the cage a couple days ago. As soon as we opened the cage to put the first chick in it was as if her whole manner changed and she lit up like a new mother. I pulled the two eggs out from under her before putting in the second chick and as I was putting the third chick in she was busy fluffing out her feathers to take in her babies, who instantly stopped peeping and took shelter under her. It really was quite a sight and we hoped that her instincts would still be there in the morning.

I was up all night worrying about what to expect in the morning. Would she have abandoned the chicks? Did she peck them to death for intruding on her space? What if they fell out of the cage and the other hens ate them?!? I know, dramatic, but my overactive imagination is sometimes impossible to turn off. Grabbing the camera, we both set out before my partner went to work to check on the new family. The other hens were already out and about when we opened up the door to the coop so they were at least leaving Kendra alone. Upon opening the henhouse door we saw she was still sitting pretty much in the same place we left her last night, feathers all fluffed out and making soft clucking noises. Now came the moment of truth, how were the chicks? I opened the cage and she didn’t try to leap out, which was a good sign. Moving her slightly we saw tiny legs under, which quickly scooted further in to keep warm! Success! Mama and babies seem to have taken to one another! Now comes the fun part of seeing how well she teaches the chicks to be chickens.

Side note: If you look really close in this last picture you can see a pair of legs under Kendra next to the waterer.