can I put 5 day old chicks under a broody hen that has no eggs?

[MissyMoo]

My 10 month old bramha has been sitting on an empty nest for a week. We gently 'sweep' her out to make her eat and drink every morning but she runs back into the coop as soon as we reopen it. There are 3 hens that lay there and we collect the unfertile eggs daily. Now I have 5 little banam chicks, I got them 2 days ago. They can't be more than 5 or 6 days old. Would she accept them if I put them under her? Would this be risky for the chicks?

 

[lilchick]

I would not put them under her..she has not been broody long and probably will not accept the chicks....and would kill them!
now if she had some chicks already you might be able to slip a few in but that too can be risky....

 

[MissyMoo]

Thanks for the reply. I think I won't even try it. She's mean as a devil to me when I make her move in the morning!

 

[austinhart123]

i wouldnt try just yet. she needs to sit 4 atleast 2 weeks before u slip chicks, dont put chicks older than three days old under a broody, my best bet would be to ask around and try to obtain fertile eggs, if your close to me (so cal) i can give you some. pm me if u have questions

 

[mhoward92]

As i have said before to people. Only you know your hens well. I personally don't go by what people say on a computer. Don't get me wrong, Awesome advice is given on this forum. But Im one of those guys that HAS to find out for himself. So i usually just take a couple of baby chicks and put them in with the hen while im standing right there. I gently pet the hen so she knows that this is supposed to be a comforting situation. And just see what she does.

 

[swtangel321]

If it were me I would try during the day when it's warm out and watch her for a little while, if that seemed to go well I would check on her very often in till i felt that every thing was going good, thats just me.....like mhoward92 said only you know your hen, i happen to have silkies they like eveything and want to mother eveything... I put a 2 day old chick outside with my hen that had 2-3 week old chicks it worked out good, the weather is nice here also so i didn't have to worrie about the little chick getting cold... so as long as your weather is good and you watch them for a while before leaving them alone what do you have to lose, if she doesn't accept them take them back inside !!!

 

[skeeter]

we put the chicks under the hen at night if she is clucking and trying to peck you she should take them,or if we dont want her to set we cage her up for a few days untill she stops clucking and they go back to laying after a few days,