# Congrats Mama Hen!



## KatieT (Mar 20, 2011)

One of my bantam cochins hatched her first babies this weekend! She's being a great mama to her four little ones. The chicks are out of my Easter Eggers' eggs, and their dads are either my Splash Orpington, Wheaten Ameracauna, or Blue Wheaten Ameraucana rooster. Two of the chicks are a dark smokey blue - one looks fairly clean-faced and the other has the sweetest, puffiest beard and muffs! The other two are pale yellow with silver streaks and rust around the face, also with beards and muffs. One of these if the chick pictured below. They're just so pretty - I hope that some of them are pullets!


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

How cute!!! Hope you have four little hens there.


----------



## KatieT (Mar 20, 2011)

That would be amazing!


----------



## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Very cute! Cheep cheep.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Aww....


----------



## Calico Patch Farm (Mar 8, 2011)

Aww! They are too cute!


----------



## KatieT (Mar 20, 2011)

They are pretty adorable. I just love chicks with beards - it makes them look extra fluffy!


----------



## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

Just read in Backyard poultry "how to sex chicks" without doing the vent thing. I tried it on my chicks and marked it down(hoping for more pullets too). I have Mille de fluer, feather footed bantams. Anyway 1 way is hold them by scruff, if they kick alot males, if they calm down hens. Or hold them on their back- kick alot males stop kicking F. Or hold them upside down by the legs- just hang there-males. Try to right themselves F. IDK if it really works but marked which ones tested how and will keep track of it. Checking the vent just sounds impossible( there are 18 different " organ" possibilities


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

AWWWWW! I want a setting hen!


----------



## KatieT (Mar 20, 2011)

Hmm, I'll have to give that sexing method a try and see what happens.

Mama hens are AWESOME! I can just sit back and enjoy the little family while she does all of the work.  My husband's favorite hen, Muffs, just went broody as well, so I separated her and gave her new eggs. Hopefully we'll have more fuzzy butts running around in a few weeks!


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

We did have a broody hen once - a white leghorn! She hatched out two fluffy chicks, but something got them when they were only a few days old.


----------



## KatieT (Mar 20, 2011)

Milkmaid - that's so sad! 

Our best broody hen was a white cochin bantam - she looked like a fuzzy snowball. One day I came outside and there was a hawk sitting on top of the chicken coop, and our little hen was throwing a fit and trying to fly up on the roof to get him. She was an excellent mother and raised a large batch of chicks every year. Wish we still had her!


----------

