Chicken Love

     A few weeks ago my hen was broody again.  This is her third year with us and I think she's a Cuckoo Maran.  She has raised chicks for us every spring since we got her.  I bought two Russian Orloff chicks and put under her in the evening, they basically took care of themselves the first day, the second day one had gotten crushed by mom.  I then went back to the feed store and bought two Delaware chicks.  After about a day, they were following her around and she was talking to them and caring for them.
     Fast forward to last week, I let them all out of the coop to play in the back yard and it was amazing to watch them.  They didn't leave near the coop or each other.  But after a few hours I went out the back door and as usual they all came running to the porch with the babies running behind.  I guess what really amazes me is the big ones basically ignore the babies.  Previously when I tried to add chicks to the flock, they were mean and I had to separate for a few days before letting them mingle.
     My coop is off the ground and I have two egg boxes that come off the side of the coop and we added two more closer to the ground that are under the coop for better air flow in the summer.  Cookie (maran) always sits in the lower boxes and it makes it easier for chicks to get in and out when they are little as they have brick stairs leading up to the lower boxes.
     Tonight I happened to be outside as it was getting dark and I believe it was the first night that Cookie decided that she was going back into the coop with the big girls and not in the nest box with the littles.  I'm sure it was getting a bit crowded.  I have my big door open now so they have more airflow and I could watch better.  The littles kept crying for mom, she's clucking at them from inside the coop, she's already up on the roost.  They wandered around, look inside where they usually sleep, continually calling, they go up into the coop and try to get up with mom and everyone is mean to them.  They go back out, go into where they usually sleep.  Meanwhile, the area next to mom is cleared off by others and the littles go back up again and I got the biggest kick out of watching them.  One of the Delaware's jumped up there and was on top of her, the other was trying to get under her.  I waited until they all went in and didn't come out and went inside to get my camera.  I could see the two Delaware's from outside the coop but I had to go in to find the little brown Russian.  They were all Under Her on the roost.  A white on each side and the brown in the middle.



You can see the white face, the next light spot a bit up from the wood is the brown chick, and the next light color is the second Delaware.