In honor of Mother’s Day, we’d like to take a moment to appreciate the remarkable maternal instincts of mother hens. Although some hens tend to make better mothers than others—Silkies and Orpingtons are widely-regarded as some of the best breeds for hatching—all hens have natural maternal instincts that kick in as soon as their chicks are hatched.
In the video below, you can see these maternal instincts in action!
Here, the new mother is visited by her owner with a handful of corn kernels for her and her brood of hour-old chicks. After taking a quick snack for herself (being a mom is hard work!) the hen begins carefully distributing the feed among her young. The chicks, whose own instincts have already prepared them their first meal, waste no time before they start popping their heads out of their mother’s plumage and pecking around for treats in their nest.
It’s hard to not smile watching the proud mother admire her chicks as they clumsily hunt for the corn kernels. She even seems to enjoy showing them off to her owner! This heartwarming display of affection is a great reminder of the important role maternal figures play in all kinds of different species. From hens to humans, we all have our mothers to thank for making life on Earth possible.
Wishing you and yours a happy Mother’s Day, from all of us here at the Cackle Coop!
I play this video to my broody hen when I want her to stay broody. The sound that the mother hen makes as well as the babies cheeping snaps her into mother mode again
Sweetness 🙂