Moving Coops

I attempted to move the 2nd broody today. It resulted in a very panicky hen, very upset and not sitting. I let her out of the small coop. She ran immediately back to her 'spot' in the big barn. I couldn't give up because she can not have her babies in there. They will be eaten by the cats. Or dogs. I dragged out one of our cages and put it below the nesting boxes and then put some 'fresh eggs' and plopped her in there and shut the cage top. She wasn't thrilled but she DID sit down on those eggs. Tomorrow I will let her out to eat/drink etc … and once she's back in the cage I will cover it and in a bit after that, I will move her to the chick coop. 

I literally, have no idea when my chicks will hatch. I THINK sometime in the next 3-5 days (ish?). I do have a hen sitting on all the eggs in the small coop right now but I have some eggs that aren't in the 3-5 day window so I would prefer both hens to sit. I will be running the risk that once one hen hatches out three or four eggs she'll get up and be like 'k done' and then so will the other and I'll have eggs not ready for hatch sitting there. 

Ah. But don't worry because while I was sneaking some 9 week old chicks into the BIG COOP, I spotted another hen sitting in the nesting boxes. Another broody. Perfect timing haha. 

Speaking of my 9 week old chicks, I graduated 2 of them into the BIG COOP. I'm not worried about flock integration, I'm worried my cats will eat them. I chose my 2 biggest, fluffiest, bravest ones and snuck them in. They were sleeping just fine next to Polly and Pocket when I went in there so hopefully they are good to go and I can start moving some of my other ones over. I will need the room right away. I have 21 - 4 week olds. I have 7 eggs under 2 broodies (not a big deal actually) and then 40 in the incubator. I don't expect all 40 to hatch. AT ALL. But even if 20 hatch … I still need to squeeze them in there until they are big enough for outside. 

I really need a little coop with roosts attached to my chicken run Corey built me. Just somewhere they can be safe out of the rain kind of thing and out of the wind. Hmmm. I'll look around the yard tomorrow maybe I can get an idea. 

I'll also get some more pictures, especially since they are all growing out their feathers so nicely! Only have about 8-10 more weeks until it'll be time to cull my other hens. 

Except my broodies. I'm going to doctor them up a bit, even if they don't survive they deserve a spa. 

#raisingbabiesissuperhard, #lovemychickens, #thekidslovechickenstoo