1 week old given to a new broody hen?

[harmesonfarm]

I have a hen that has now gone broody, and I have 4 little almost 1 week old baby chicks inside in a brooder...

I know of putting day olds or so under broody's with success, but I'm just wondering if anyone has done this with week olds or so?

I will note too, that this hen has never been broody before, nor has been broody for very long. If this makes a difference or not.

Thanks in Advance!

 

[junebuggena]

It usually does not go very well if a broody has only been brooding for a few days and the chicks are that old. A hen needs to be broody long enough for her hormones to make the shift from sitting to caring for chicks. And the chicks need to be young enough to imprint on the hen, under 72 hours old. Some hens will mother anything you give them, but those are the exception rather than the rule.

 

[harmesonfarm]

That makes sense...Thanks so much

I suppose we'll wait and see if she stays broody or not

We'll just raise the chicks the way we intended, in our brooder, and if need be we'll be getting some more eggs for her.