Adding chicks to a broody

[yyz0yyz0]

Since my broody was only able to hatch one chick out of a doz eggs she was given, I'm toying with the idea of buying some chicks off CL.

My single chick is 1wk old, if I get 6 chicks about the same age can I just add them to the nest after dark? What are the odds that she'll just accept the new chicks as her own and start taking care of them? Would it be better to keep them under lights and add one a night till she has them all or just give her all 6 at once?

thx

 

[Monkeybean415]

This question is interesting my instinct would be to add them slowly to see if she takes to them. I don't know though as I haven't done it. I think it's easier and better for success to add the chicks when broody is still sitting on her eggs so you trick her into thinking the eggs hatched but obviously you weren't able to do that. Hopefully it all works out for you. Maybe someone more experienced will chime in

 

[yyz0yyz0]

thanks for the reply.

Actually I just got off the phone with someone on CL who has lots and lots of chicks for sale and they said if the chicks are not newborns the mother hen will kill them. They have to be newborns and have that new baby smell or they are intruders.

So we decided to just by some chicks and raise them in the garage like we did the original flock. I figure when the broody stops watching over her chick she can go back in the main run and I'll add the garage chicks to the single to raise them up big enough to fend for themselves in the main run.

 

[Monkeybean415]

That sounds like a good plan! I'll look forward to seeing pics of your growing flock! We just hatched some chicks with a broody who hatched 5 but a dog got to one so now she has 4 and is doing great. They're almost 4 weeks now.