June 26, 2014

Baby Chicks, 2nd Batch

Our second batch of baby chicks hatched late Tuesday afternoon. This is the first time I've had two broody hens in one summer.


This Buff Orpington Mama only had four or five eggs, and it looks as though two hatched.


At least that's all I've seen so far because they tend to hide under Mama when I come near.

The hardest part is keeping the adult hens out of the brooder area because I have yet to build something more permanent than a temporary barrier of hardware cloth. Thankfully, they're only interested in food, and not in giving the chicks a hard time.

And our first baby chick? Growing up.


Baby Chicks, 2nd Batch © June 2014

10 comments:

~~~jennifer~~~ said...

Yay! Baby chicks with their mama are the best!

Dani said...

Very cute. We've ordered a few more ducklings -'we've been told they'll be available in a couple of weeks.

Frugal in Derbyshire said...

Buffs are such good mothers aren't they?
This year we've had quite a few broodies who have only bought off one or two chicks from larger clutches.
Gill

Leigh said...

Jennifer, too cute, huh?

Dani, I'm interested in how you integrate them with the ones you already have. Any problems?

Gill, Buffs are great mothers, I agree. That "adoption" is really interesting. Some hens just love being mamas, apparently.

Farmer Barb said...

I have never had any mothering here except my own adventure. It looks like fun!

Harry Flashman said...

I went out to feed the chickens today and discovered that another hen had successfully hidden her nest from my greedy dogs. She had twelve chicks, two yellow and ten black.

thewovenspoke said...

Love chickens since childhood.

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

They're cute when their babies. Once grown will any of these chickens be added to the freezer?

Leigh said...

Barb, it is fun! :)

Harry, good for her! Those mama hens can be pretty clever when it comes to eggs.

Thewovenspoke, I used to have parakeets, but never considered chickens. Now I can't imagine living without them.

Sandy, my plan has always been to raise some chicks each year to replace our oldest hens. Roosters, of course, end up in the freezer.

Anonymous said...

One of our ducklings from last year, Yang, has just hatched her first baby out. Given it's the only one I'm calling it lucky cos it sure is one lucky duck! ;) If Lucky is a drake then I guess he won't be so lucky.
Mandy, our first duck is also sitting eggs but they both get ultra aggressive when sitting so I'm leaving her to do her thing. She should be hatching in about 2 weeks. We no longer have any roosters but if my hens go broody I'll get some fertile eggs from friends.
Congrats on your Mumma hen. Hatching chicks is so much fun.