Observation

I have a hen that hatched out two baby chicks. There is another hen that wants to hatch chicks as well but I want to keep the population somewhat under control. The other day I went out to do chores and I found the cluck hen picking on the new mom and her babies. She wasn't letting up so I pulled her away from them. She kept going after them so I decided to try an experiment. I bought two baby chicks to put under her to see if she would become better natured as a mom. At first she kind of just sat there with a what's going on look but then she started looking and when she saw the babies she started pecking at them. What a grouchy ole hen she is! I took the babies from her and set them down a ways from the mama hen. I watched to see what would happen. The new chicks were about the same age and size as her own. When she heard them peeping, she spoke to her own chicks and must have told them to stay still and stay put because they froze and stayed together in the place where she left them. She came over to look at the new chicks, once she felt it was safe she called to her own babies and they flew to their mama and the new babies. I continued to observe throughout the day and watched how things were going for the new family. It was interesting because although the mama hen accepted the new babies and allowed them to be with her, they did not seem to recognize her and would wander to far from her.
She would run after them and give them a quick peck. They do not listen very well to her and it has cost one of them their life. The two of them strayed from her side and the geese took one of them out. The other chick managed to get under cover and protect itself. It has managed to stay alive but I have had to go help it out of trouble a couple of times. My theory is that while the mama hen is sitting on her eggs she talks to her babies so that when they hatch they know their mother's voice. These new babies were raised in an incubator and so they never knew a mama. I think that is why they have a hard time following the mama hen's orders. I wonder if this is a kind of a detachment disorder?

The other observation is with a baby goose that I purchased to add to the one gosling. When I first introduced the new gosling to the geese, they flew at it and hissed. I thought for sure that they might hurt it but felt that they might settle down if I left. I backed away and watched close so I could rescue it if need be. As I backed away the geese quieted some what but were still chasing after the baby. Then I noticed something that surprised me. Webster, the big, white, male goose stopped hissing and started to listen to the baby. The baby came towards him and he didn't hiss at it, he just stood there and watched it. Soon the other geese stopped chasing it and the pen quieted down. The baby continued to talk and the geese started to listen. It only took about fifteen minutes before the baby was snuggling up to the mama geese. I continued to observe throughout the day as I wanted to see if they would accept each other. Would this baby follow its new family or would it perish like the baby chick did?
Daisy, the big , white, mama goose corrected it once by biting its neck when it did not respond to her. I wondered if it would be dead by morning. The geese chose to spend all day in the barn and cuddle to their babies. The next morning I went out to check on all the new babies to see if they were all alive. All was quiet and all was well. I opened up their doors to let them go outside and all the new babies followed their mama's. The mama's had to correct them at times but they were doing well. The one thing that really surprised me was the love that Webster showed for that new baby gosling. I could both see and feel it. Webster has become very close to the little one and visa versa. The baby stays close to Webster but still snuggles up to Flora and Daisy and its new sibling. It all is so fascinating! I love to watch them.