Actual process for swapping fake eggs and day old chicks?

[TK421]

I’ve read all the posts and searched the internet but can’t find a good set of recommendations for the actual swap once the chicks come. I’m all ready. When my chicks arrive from the hatchery, broody hen will have been sitting 20-22 days. She has become a liquid hen, conforming to the shape of her nest box. I have a chick rearing area set up with their food and water, for mama and for chicks. But what is the actual process? All I’ve read is to do it at night, and put them in with her facing away from me. But how do I take the 12 wooden eggs away and plant 10 babies without disturbing her? Broody hen will shriek when we I get near her. I Can’t imagine what she’ll do when I start taking “her” wooden eggs. For the past 10 years whenever I fish for eggs under a laying hen, they will often get up and walk away. If that happens next week, I’m toast.

Do I take all the eggs out then put all the chicks in or one at a time? should I load them under her or under her wings? Do I need to distract her? What is “at night?..“ 2 hrs after dark, or 3am? Also, and this is the biggest worry. If the chicks arrive at the post office in the morning, do I need to feed and water and heat them like I would without a broody mama until dark? I don’t want them to imprint on me.

 

[Acre4Me]

In the dark, at night, when hen is sleeping, tuck the chicks under her wings, or behind her in nest. Make sure they can’t wander to far from her or fall out of nest. Remove fake eggs as you can while placing chicks. Remove any remaining next day when she’s off the nest proudly clucking to her brood.

we’ve done this successfully a few times.

good luck!

 

[DobieLover]

I’ve read all the posts and searched the internet but can’t find a good set of recommendations for the actual swap once the chicks come. I’m all ready. When my chicks arrive from the hatchery, broody hen will have been sitting 20-22 days. She has become a liquid hen, conforming to the shape of her nest box. I have a chick rearing area set up with their food and water, for mama and for chicks. But what is the actual process? All I’ve read is to do it at night, and put them in with her facing away from me. But how do I take the 12 wooden eggs away and plant 10 babies without disturbing her? Broody hen will shriek when we I get near her. I Can’t imagine what she’ll do when I start taking “her” wooden eggs. For the past 10 years whenever I fish for eggs under a laying hen, they will often get up and walk away. If that happens next week, I’m toast.

Do I take all the eggs out then put all the chicks in or one at a time? should I load them under her or under her wings? Do I need to distract her? What is “at night?..“ 2 hrs after dark, or 3am? Also, and this is the biggest worry. If the chicks arrive at the post office in the morning, do I need to feed and water and heat them like I would without a broody mama until dark? I don’t want them to imprint on me.

I recently had a late hatch on one egg that I had to assist. So the 7 siblings had hatched the day before and I needed to slip the late chick under her mother in hopes she wouldn't kill it in the morning.
I went out 2 hours after full on dark. It was 10:15. You can still see but the mother is not only in her broody trance, it's also dark. There will be little fuss.
I would remove as many eggs as you can then slip the chicks under her. She will feel them moving and adjust to them.
Good luck!

 

[TK421]

This helps,thank you. Any thoughts on the 12-14 hr delay from arrival to installation?

 

[Ridgerunner]

"At night" means after it is really dark in there. Hopefully you don't have a lot of light in there. Use a flash light so you can see. If it is pretty dark she should not get that upset.

You don't need a lot of fake eggs under her, two or three would be plenty. That has never made a difference with mine. I really don't think they can count. But you are where you are so I'd carefully take them out before you put the chicks in.

I don't put most of the chicks under the hen, just put them in the nest with her. They find their way under her. If you do put them under her cup them under your hand so you don't crush them as you put them in. Also be careful you don't crush one already in there. That's why I'd take the eggs out first, to reduce the chance of crushing one. Guess how I know about crushing one.

My broody hens don't always bring them off the nest the next day. Often they wait an extra day. When the chicks get hungry they will tell the hen they need food or water. They do talk to each other. They can live a surprising amount of time on the egg yolk they absorb at hatch.

I would offer them food and water during that first day, plus heat of course. That will extend the time before they have to come off the nest. I would not worry about them imprinting on you. I do this with chicks I hatch in my incubator. While they are hatching I'm around a lot. Imprinting on me has never been a problem.

Be down there early the next morning to see how it is going. As long as they are under or with her and she is not attacking them they should be OK.

Good luck!

 

[TK421]

this is all great advice, thank you! I’ll update with the full story and all the details.

 

[Lilly16]

I just did this two weeks ago. I have a guru in the farmer who runs the local feed store. He advised touching the chicks as little as possible so they smell as neutral as possible. Morning arrival, a canning ring and lid with chick starter, the waterer, heat lamp, all in a box. Only touched to transfer. That night about 11:30 when the broody hens were good and hard asleep, we went down with a coleman lantern, put the waterer and an line shaped chick feeder in basically with the light off, then took out the eggs. We put the chicks in a bit under the vent, did not lift the weight of the hen. Btw, liquid is a good description. The next day we peeked to see if we saw dead or abandoned chicks. They were under the mamas, and we left them alone. Change your chick water daily. In the standard waterer that everyone has, we add 1 tsp Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother. We put a few river stones in the water bin area to prevent drowning, which has happened and not since using rocks. By the third day, chicks were darting about and we had to move them out of the nesting boxes. I had tried to move the broodies to a milk crate nest several time and they never would stay. Some hens did consent to lay there though most of them crowded in with broodies. Now two mamas are coparenting. Best wishes with yours.

 

[TK421]

That night about 11:30 when the broody hens were good and hard asleep, we went down with a coleman lantern, put the waterer and an line shaped chick feeder in basically with the light off, then took out the eggs. We put the chicks in a bit under the vent, did not lift the weight of the hen.

very helpful, thank you. I’m looking forward to trying this out.

 

[TK421]

We just made the switch! It went so smoothly. We brought them outside her nest box so she could hear them peeping a few minutes before we opened the lid. I gently placed one chick under her bottom and scooped out a few handfuls of wooden eggs and moved them to the side. One by one I put more chicks under her bottom, under the wings, under her side. I noticed after a few, the broody hen squatted up out of a sitting position and into a crouched position to make room. We shut the lid and then went around to the other side to put food and water in the coop. We checked on her 10 minutes later and all the babies were either under her, or wedged between her and the wall of the nest box. I figured that was good enough. There’s a removable divider that turns the nest box into 2 nest boxes and a removable divider that separates the nest box from the coop. I took out the first but left the second one, figuring I can remove it in the morning. I didn't want the littles to be able to wander too far. So far so good! Your advice was right on!

 

[TK421]

Day 3 update. The chicks arrived on Thursday and we put them under the broody hen that night. On Friday, we moved the mama and the babies out of the main coop into a dog crate in a partitioned area in the run. The chicks run around her, sometimes under her, sometimes on top of her. It was surprising because I thought they'd be really cold all the time and hiding her all the time since it's not 95 degrees outside. But they seem to be fine. We had kept the runt in our brooder in the garage because it wasn't eating and could barely walk and could barely keep its eyes open. On Friday evening, we slipped it under mama to give it one last chance to "sink or swim."

It rained here on Friday night and the temps got down in the 60s on Saturday morning, but the chicks are fine. The hen is allowing the chicks to explore a little, and they are slowly venturing out of the dog crate into the run partition. They go in and out, back and forth, not venturing very far, but she's definitely showing them around, and helping them learn how to navigate their environment. Everyone seems to be fine. The runt is doing better now. It's still nowhere near the others, but doing better than it was on Day 1.