| Sister. She shares the nest with Mother Duck, who was out in the mean time. |
On Monday, I used to be canning cucumber relish, when Dan got here into the kitchen and mentioned, “Two of the chicks have hatched, however Sister will not let Mrs. Rooster again into the coop.” I went out to see too, and certain sufficient, two little peepsters have been peeping from the nest, and Mama Hen was nowhere to be seen.
All the poultry yard was in an uproar, however the place was Mama Hen? Since we’ve 4 Speckled Sussex, all of them look alike and we won’t inform them aside! Luckily, the day was within the low 90sF (low 30sC), so we did not have to fret in regards to the chicks getting chilled. However we have been involved that she may abandon the nest. If she did not return by night, we might need to put the chicks beneath the brooder lamp and lift them ourselves. That was not the fascinating final result.
That night, after I went out to fill hay feeders for in a single day, Dan mentioned there was a hen beneath the nest packing containers, that are subsequent to Mama Hen’s canine provider. He mentioned she’d been there all afternoon, so we reckoned this one was Mama Hen. If she’d simply been in there to put an egg, she would have left as quickly because the job was completed.
After everybody was in for the evening, I fastidiously moved her to the canine crate. The chicks began peeping and she or he settled down on prime of them. What a reduction.
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| Mrs, Rooster, now Mama Hen. |
Dan gave her six or seven eggs, and thus far, three have hatched.
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| Are you able to see the second? |
Will probably be a few days earlier than we all know the ultimate rely. When the eggs begin hatching, the broody hen often stays on the nest for a number of extra days. It is because she lays them over a interval of days, in order that they hatch on completely different days. We gave her the eggs all of sudden (so long as they have not been refrigerated, they continue to be viable for chicks), however by intuition, she’ll keep on the nest for a few days. That is good as a result of it provides us time to determine how one can maintain her and the chicks secure. Too many squabbles within the poultry yard for that!
