A Hen and her Chicks

This weekend our broody surrogate hen hatched seven chicks from her 
clutch of eleven. To ensure the safety of the mother hen and chicks, 
we moved them to the back of our largest coop. The nesting boxes where
the chicks were hatched has a separate room with a door. Closing the door
to the nesting boxes allows the hen and her chicks safety from Jake, 
our Tom turkey, and Greg, our large rooster. 

Mother hens are seriously protective of their young. They are quite capable 
of protecting the chicks by themselves, but adult diseases inside our main 
coop could kill the biddies. The Mother hen will remain with the chicks for 
six to eight weeks before she will want to rejoin the flock and begin 
laying eggs again. When the chicks are 18 weeks, they can be introduced 
to the flock or be moved to a separate coop. As they grow, it will be 
important to determine how many roosters are mixed into the group. They
will need to be transferred to new homes and not introduced to the flock. 
We are not sure what we will do with any roosters that are growing at this
time. I will update you on the two sets of biddies soon.