The broody hen experiment

"Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me." Psalm 142:6
Remember the two hens that unexpectedly decided to brood? (You can read about it here.) This little guy is the lone survivor.

The chicks started hatching on schedule (May 3), but there were only five of them. They seemed to be quite strong and lively. Mrs. Maran was a good mother: very protective, teaching her babies to scratch, etc. Then one day everything changed. There was a hen of another breed (Miss Wyandotte) sitting in the box mothering the chicks. All chicks, that is, but one - and Mrs. Maran kept it close by. We pulled the chicks out of the box so they could be with Mrs. Maran, but Mrs. Maran cruelly rejected them. So, they went back in with their foster-mother. Each day started with fewer chicks. One-by-one they were found on the ground lifeless and no longer breathing. As an attempt to not lose them all, we put the lone survivor in the brooder tank with the chicks from the hatchery. Our guess is that if Mrs. Maran was not allowed to mother all of them, no one else could either. And the chicks were caught in the middle.

Hens were created to foster new life. If it were not for broody hens, chickens would have been extinct centuries ago. In our opinion, it would have worked beautifully if the broody hen had been isolated with her batch of eggs. For now, no more broody hens allowed! We'll try again when we can separate them from the want-to-be-but-aren't mother hens.