A Broody Hen/Letting Her Adopt Chicks?

[tinkerbell265]

YES!!! I have a broody hen! I'm so excited! I'm getting some babies in a couple of weeks and was hoping one of my ladies would go broody!

Does anyone have experience or advice on having a hen adopt and raise babies? Should I just do it myself? Do I need to keep her and the babies separate from my other hen?

Anything at all would be great guys!

 

[azelgin]

I've only done it once. We had a hen hide herself on a clutch of eggs we didn't see. We had another that kept wanting to brood in the nest boxes, which we cleaned out every day. The sneaky hidden one hatched out four. We put two under the other hen and she took them right away. Also, it ended her broodiness. We did keep the hens separate from each other and the rest of the flock. I wouldn't worry about separating them from only one other hen. We have about 70 hens and its very hard for a new mother to protect them from the rest of the flock, against such numbers..

 

[KayTee]

I have put day-old chicks under a broody hen twice now - success both times - she was a great foster mum to her chicks. With only one other hen I wouldn't think you need to separate them, but there are a couple of important points to remember:

- make certain that the chicks can't wander off too far from their mum for the first 24 / 48 hours - she may not want to leave the nest straight away, and if they go too far they may not find their way back, and will die of cold. (I lost my first chick this way - it went around the back of the nest box and couldn't get back - very upsetting) I don't know what your set-up is, but it is a good idea to try and keep them confined to a limited area until you are certain that the hen is walking around and the chicks are staying with her.

- if she hasn't been brooding for very long then she may not accept the chicks as readily as a hen that has been sitting on the nest for a couple of weeks (21 days is normal incubation time). Keep a close eye on the chicks when you introduce them - start with one and see how she reacts for an hour or so. If it seems that she is accepting it then add another. Eggs naturally hatch out over a period of a few hours or more, so it's not a strange thing to do. If it is possible (in terms of keeping the chicks warm etc) I also try and place the box they are in close to the nest for a while before I introduce them, so that she hears them cheeping for a bit first (as if they are in the egg and about to hatch).

Good luck with your girl and her new babies!