This is a first. There are two chicks with two mothers. Three weeks ago the black hen started sitting on a clutch of eggs. About ten days ago, a white hen decided she wanted to sit on the clutch two. Sometimes the black hen would be on the eggs. Other times the white hen. After a few days, they had the eggs divided and they sat on them side by side.
Two chicks hatched and today the hens had them outside. The chicks were going from one hen to the other, treating both of them as if they were their mother. When one hen would find something good to eat and call for them, they would come running to see what she was pecking at. When the other hen did the same, they went running to her.
I have no idea how this will turn out. I’m thinking that one of the hens will end up being the mother that raises them, but who knows? Maybe they will come to a co-parenting arrangement. See Interracial Lesbian Mothers.
I have Muscovy ducks, and they co parent. Sometimes they bicker, but one duck will be able to get some ‘me’ time for bathing and grooming, while the other tends to the babes.
Good to know. This morning I checked on the two moms and they spent the night together, side by side in the former dog house they used to brood.
How are they today? I raised my babies as a single mamma. What I wouldn’t have given for another mamma raising babes right next to me! 🙂
They are still getting along. We’re calling them the interracial lesbian mothers. At night the two hens huddle together in the doghouse where they hatched the chicks. It’s impossible to know which hens the chicks are under. During the day, the hens stay close together with the chicks going from one hen to the other. The white hen is a more aggressive hen, so in the end I expect the chicks to be with her more.