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Nuggets

May 5th, 2014

It’s been a week now since the nuggets appeared in the coop. For the first day or two I kept them in a brooder in the coop to make sure Broody Hen was going to stick with them. Since she did a fine job, I put them outside in a small enclosure for a day.
nuggets 1
After that I set them free, no fences or anything to keep them safe. Broody hen is doing a fantastic job of keeping them all in line and safe from predators and the guineas, other chickens and she even fought off a wild turkey hen that was trying to sneak into the coop for a free meal. She’s a champ.
nuggets 2
There is a greater risk of something happening to one of the chicks if I let them run freely, but I’m OK with that. They will be healthier and better chickens if I let their mom show them what it means to be a chicken.  They will also be much happier for it!
nuggets 3
I love that she’s doing such a great job, brooding little birds is one of my least favorite things to do. Since I like to have them outside on grass as soon as possible, it gets tedious carrying them out and bringing them in again in the evenings. I’m happy knowing there’s a great hen doing what she was born to do!

Have you spotted any babies in your garden yet?

4 Comments to “Nuggets”
  1. Laura @ Raise Your Garden on May 5, 2014 at 6:31 am

    Spring has officially sprung when the baby ducks and bunnies arrive!

    We have a married duck couple and their babies playing the back yard, too cute! They are so devoted to each other.

    I have to guard my baby rabbits from my dachshunds who want to harass them! The dirty dogs =)

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  2. Nebraska Dave on May 5, 2014 at 8:13 am

    Susy, rabbits are the only new life that I’ve seen so far in the garden. Soon to be Robins at the Urban ranch from the nest right outside the front door will give me a chorus of peeping. Terra Nova Gardens usually adds a groundhog from Nebraska Phil but I haven’t see any evidence of that yet this year.

    Have a great baby chic day.

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  3. Annie on May 5, 2014 at 8:56 am

    I’m letting a broody hen hatch some pheasant eggs for a friend. Should be interesting. She’s got about one more week to go. So, no babies yet but close. Hopefully.

    Reply to Annie's comment

  4. whit on May 5, 2014 at 10:06 am

    Our babies come June 2nd. But we have seen some baby ducks at the local country fire station. There were two mothers uniting their broods, for what I can only guess would be ease of raising these kids…one mom can have a break, while the other is in charge. There are tons of baby lambs and calves around the area. We saw a calf and it’s mother just a few minutes after birth, baby was toddling along for its first steps and the mom still had the placenta intact. The babies I am most excited to see are down the road at a neighbour. They has a stream with a 6 foot tall tree stump near the banks. About 4 weeks ago, a Canadian goose built a nest in the top of the stump, and has been sitting there since. What a clever goose! I can’t wait to see how many babies she has once they come down and start swimming in the stream.

    Reply to whit's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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