My neighbor told me this was possible, putting newborn chicks under a broody hen, and I came here to try and find out if she was correct.
Did you try it and if so, did it work? I have a Buff Orpington that has been broody for a couple of weeks and would like to try it.
We are trying that but so far the older pullets are bullying the young chicks so we can't leave them together unsupervised. I know we must expect a bit of discord while they work out the pecking order but so far it's too aggressive to leave them alone together. We continue to integrate them...
21463 - 5 + 12 = 21470
Since I last posted we lost 5 hens to hawks. And we have acquired 12 additional hens/pullets. We have built two 50' x 50' covered runs to keep everyone safe. I do miss them free ranging though.
The new pullets/hens are:
5 buff orpington
2 ideal
2 easter eggers
1...
Thanks! I was afraid this would be the answer. We have also have some very young pullets that can't yet be integrated with the older bird so I was hoping I could move the older pullets in with the rooster. I guess I'm going to have to get creative with the chicken wire for a while to...
We have a rooster that is just over 1 year old. He's a large friendly NH red. All our hens were killed by hawks so he is our only adult bird. We have 2 month old Buff Orpington pullets that have been living in the same coop with the roo, but separated by chicken wire. They seem to be...