**update on Broody Hen”
Betty is a mom! and she is doing a great job. Broody chickens do not always make good moms, in fact, they may harm the chick or simply not be interested in raising the chick. Betty is taking her job serious and taking care of one lucky chick. She was sitting on four eggs but only one hatched. We are incubating the remaining three eggs under a heat lamp to see if another one hatches. I made the mistake of adding an egg after Betty was already sitting on the eggs. A broody chicken lays several eggs and once she is ready she will sit on the eggs. This will ensure they all hatch the same day. One of the eggs had cracked a few days after she was sitting on them and I replaced it. There is hope that at least one more chick is born.
I still have Betty in a separate coop, just for mommy and the chick, until the chick is a little bigger and less potential that the rest of the flock hurt the chick. Betty does not know the chick may not be her offspring as the eggs were mixed from the entire flock.
Next we need to sex the chick! hopefully it is female.
Mom teaching the basics
