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The mother hen that hatched the lonely Easter Chick has resumed her job of providing us with eggs! I got the first egg on Friday and I got another one on Sunday. I remember the last mother chick laying eggs again while she was still taking care of her little chick, but I didn't take note of how long it took a hen to go from broody to laying again.
The chick was hatched on April 8th, so that means the hen was setting on eggs at least two weeks prior to that (and not laying any more eggs). According to my guesstimating, the hen took off just over two months of egg laying. Not sure if that is normal or not, but now I know. And I'm sure all of you were just dying to know that little bit of chicken-trivia. Two months of paid (i.e. free scratch & treats) Maternity Leave is a pretty good deal.
She and her chick are still in the smaller brooding pen and I'm not sure when I'm going to let them out. I always seem to have a problem letting the little chicks out into the "big" world. I've probably lost close to a dozen chicks to predators once they are let out of the pen, so I'm a bit gun-shy now.
And since the chick is still pretty small, it can't make the big jump up to the chicken coop door. So that means I'll have to build a chicken ramp; something I've been meaning to do forever anyhow.
Just put it on the list, right?
Cute! I'd love it if our broodies could have a successful hatch. So much less work that way. Well, a little less anyway. With the brooder pen it's still an extra chore feeding and watering I guess. I was curious about how long it would take for the chickens to begin laying again after hatching chicks, so thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have a hen wanting to go broody. Every evening, I take her out of the nesting box and set her by the little door that leads out of the hen house. She will sit there for about a minute scolding me and then out she runs to get a bite to eat! I keep thinking I ought to let her hatch some chicks...
ReplyDeletePatty, I guess it could be considered a "successful" hatch as there was ONE chick, and technically it's still alive. But I'm pretty certain it's a rooster :( It just seems like a waste of time / energy (for either the hen OR me) to hatch out one little chick. And on that will more than likely end up in the soup pot!
ReplyDeleteCandy, I WISH I could get a good broody hen....and one that stays IN the coop instead of nesting down where I can't get to her outside. Oh well.