My broody hen stopped her motherhood career this weekend. Saturday night was Move-The-Hen night. Mama hen was looking like she was ready to be done with mothering for about a week now. When I came down to check on them, she was pacing back and forth behind the mesh like a zoo tiger. A sort of "Get me outta here" body language. She was ready to be done with motherhood. The chicks were about a month old and fairly well feathered out. That, combined with warmer weather meant that they would okay without mama's warm bely.
So, after dark (but not quite dark enough, really), I took her out of the natal nest and put her in the coop. She clucked around a bit. There was still just enough light coming through the coop window for her to ’see’ that she was somewhere new. Fortunately, she didn’t sound distressed or agitated. After a few minutes, she did some of those soft tucka-tuck-tuck-tuck calls that chickens do on the roost bar at night — a kind of ‘I’m here, and I’m okay’ sort of call that they do to their flock mates.
Sunday morning, she wasn't pacing around wondering where her chicks were. She was right in with the rest of the hens, snarfing the old grapes that were starting to mold. In the photo, she's the one on the left, in the back -- orange band on her left leg. There was no issue of the others treating her like an interloper. She was aggressively re-asserting her place in the pecking order. So yeah, she was fine being done with motherhood.
In the photo, you might notice the plastic container on the ground. We occasionaly get some free old produce from a supermarket. That one was post-prime (mushy) raspberries. They were too mushy to dole out, so I just left the container in there. Free chicken treats are nice.
I wondered how the babies would take mama's removal. A distressed baby chick can get quite loud when they're desperate. The babies did some plaintive cheeping when mama was first removed but it didn't escalate. After a few minutes, they were fine too. They spent the rest of Saturday night in a huddle in the corner, using each other for warmth. Sunday night, they were up on the roost bar. Their nest days were over.
At one month old, they're getting lankier. Puff balls no more. It's looking like they'll be two hens and two roosters. With the Barred Rock breed, roosters are a lighter 'gray' as the white 'bars' on their feathers are a little wider. Hens tend to have narrower white bars, looking noticeably darker (almost black). So, the two in front (in the photo) are likely little roosters. The two in the middle, the darker ones, are likely hens. The last one in the back isn't clearly light or dark, so it will take a little longer to tell.
Ideally, I'll have two hens to introduce into the flock this fall. It's good for them to have each other for moral support since the new hens always start out at the lowest rung of the pecking order.
When the chicks are around three months old, I will separate them into a Boy's Cabin and a Girl's Cabin so they don't get too crowded. For now, they're a little flock of their own.