Introducing week old to mama

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backyardfarmer2

backyardfarmer2

In the Brooder
Jul 12, 2015
20
0
24
Central Illinois
im hatching 6 chicken eggs and 1 duck egg right now. My main concern is the duck as that will be the only one I permanently keep as the chickens will go to my parents flock. I'm planning on taking the chicken eggs out from under my broody hen before they hatch and letting her keep my duck. Can I put the chickens back in with her after my duck hatches or should they be kept in the brooder? My parents also have a broody hen sitting on a dozen eggs now could I take the 6 chicks there after they hatch? Just looking for what others think on the matter.
 
The older the chick or chicks are than the mother hens' own chicks, the less likely she will be to accept them.

Mother hens are more likely to turn on older or bigger chicks and kill them.

It may or it may not work to combine the two clutches but it will almost surely work better if the hen with 12 eggs never gets the chance to see her own biddies. This way there is no chance of her recognizing her own chicks and look at the other chicks as interlopers.
 

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