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Originally Posted by jemmalg
Oh that's amazing, how clever! Does the other chicken not freak out that the chicks aren't hers then? Also do you leave the male chicken with the female the whole time?
That is so cute! This is making me really want a pet chicken, haha.
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She doesn't know the chicks aren't hers(I never said chickens were the smartest creatures!). Chickens also are incapable of counting or processing numbers, so if her two eggs turns into eight eggs, she won't notice.
Sometimes a hen won't lay after you take her eggs, so I just put a golfball in there and she continues, haha.
Reese and Twix are bonded, so I just leave them together all the time. However, I will take Twix out in a few days, as although he wouldn't hurt a chick, he might step on it on accident or take food from it, as he will treat it like just another chicken, not a chicken that needs help like the mother will.
It's so sad to take Twix out though, he loves Reese so much! When I take roosters in bonded pairs like these out, they sometimes try to call their "wife" and generally freak out a bit, and look for her
I'm putting it off, but I've got 21 days to take him out, I'll get around to it...
I also have laying hens, who I want chicks from, but also want eggs from. So I have "mother hens" who sole job is to raise chicks. I take eggs from the laying hens, and give them to one of the mother hens. They are all a very motherly breed and love chicks, so they are happy to have them. Plus, they get winters off!
Once, a mother had 6 of her own brown chicks, and one white one. She, at first, rejected him, but after two days, decided she liked him and took him in. She really scared me though!