My senile little hen is as happy as can be

About 9 years ago I was without chickens. I was offered some mixed breeds from a man who wanted to downsize. I said sure, bring them on. Believe it or not, I still have two of those original hens and two others lived until the past 6 months.
Anywho, one of these old hens is a little black banty. She isn't OEB, but I am not sure what she is or if she is a mixed breed. Doesn't matter, back to the story.
I have a separated brooder house that is a lean-to on the South side of my chicken house. I have been brooding chicks in it since last Fall. One side is for the itty bittys and the other side has a door that leads to an outside pen. When the chicks outgrow being itty bitty, they get to go to the other side and play outside.

My little Banty hen had tried to act broody for a few days, but would fly off the nest and strut around complaining. Never real serious about setting, but man did she want to be a Mama. She took to hanging out around the brooder house and the outside pen. She would pace constantly and call all kinds of sweet mama talk to the chicks in the brooder. Now on the side with the pen, there were several stages of chicks. Some were Dorking Cornish crosses and if we hadn't been having so much rain, they would have been put out to run around on their own. Some of these chicks were a third bigger than the little banty hen.
I had unplugged the lights in the brooders when the night temps were staying warm. It was a bit cooler one evening and I went out to look to see if they were piling up or if they were still comfortable without the light. It was right before dark, but still light enough to see what was going on.
To get to the door to this brooder, I have to go into the chicken house. As I opened the door I heard a screech from the rafters right above the door. I look up and there set Bessie the banty hen. She was scolding me like I was a danged old coyote slipping in to steal her babies. I just reached up and snatched her off the rafter and set her down in the brooderhouse.
Oh my goodness, you would have thought it was Christmas. That was the happiest little hen on the place. She went clucking up to the chicks and it scared the heck out of them.
I left them alone, but went back later to see if things had settled down some. There was little Bessie on the floor of the brooder house. There were different sized chicks sleeping all around her.
Oh yeah. there was a Royal Palm Turkey poult in the bunch to. lol
After a few days I opened the door and let them run around on their own. Little Bessie tries to keep up with them all, but they are spreading their wings and going off in all directions. Come nightfall, little Bessie herds them all back into the brooder house. She has finally started taking to the roosts with the older ones, but she keeps a close watch on those little guys who still sit on the ground.

The only problem is that I need them to all go to another hen house so I can use the brooder for babies that are stinking up my house. I also have about 90 guinea eggs in the incubators and they will have to go somewhere.

Oh, what a cute little story! I too used to have a little black banty hen who was 'in charge' of the entire coop, gardens and most of all MY actions. LOL. Her name was Tinkerbell - Tink for short.

Thanks for sharing, it took me on a pleasant journey down memory lane.

oh that is the cutest that reminds me of the silkie hen I had one time she had a brood and lol would freak out when I went to feed the other babies I had at the same time so for the heck of it I tossed em alltogether lol there were 25 and the hen with her brood lol she was vey happy with the situation lol

yes i had one chook Mopmop who nearly always adopted half grown chicks rejected by their own mothers ... she would wistfully peer at them thru the netting and hang around the little ones when they are let out with their own mothers.

since then i used Mopmop to hatch out eggs for me. Such a dear little hen