This is the coolest thing. We had a broody hen here at Glendeven. She was instinctually hatching eggs, but there were no eggs under her to hatch and, well, we don't even have a rooster....
So an online search uncovered some tricks for “snapping her out of it”, so she'd start laying again and running around with the rest of everyone. I wasn’t sure about any of the proposed ideas, and figured I’d just let her snap out of it on her own.
It just so happens that my set of new chicks was arriving and the nice folks at Highway 20 Feed told me that -- and this is the cool part -- if I slipped the new chicks under the hen while she's sleeping, she'll awaken a new mom and care for them. All 15 of them. All different breeds of them. There was a chance it wouldn't work, but was worth a shot.
So an online search uncovered some tricks for “snapping her out of it”, so she'd start laying again and running around with the rest of everyone. I wasn’t sure about any of the proposed ideas, and figured I’d just let her snap out of it on her own.
It just so happens that my set of new chicks was arriving and the nice folks at Highway 20 Feed told me that -- and this is the cool part -- if I slipped the new chicks under the hen while she's sleeping, she'll awaken a new mom and care for them. All 15 of them. All different breeds of them. There was a chance it wouldn't work, but was worth a shot.
Needless to say, it worked!
This is a "win-win-win".
Chicks are happy and safe, mother hen gets what she was hoping for -- her own clutch of chicks -- and I don't have to worry about heat lamps, cleaning a chick box, and the stress of introducing the young birds to the yard. Nature will take care of itself.
Happy Easter indeed!
-John
1 comment:
Just finished checking out all the pictures of the day - what a great idea. The inn looks beautiful, as usual, and it makes me long for another trip to Glendeven. Perhaps we can stop in for a night on May 31st. The chicks look adorable. Wonder how big they will be by the end of May!
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