Adding chics to a broody hen

[Chic Rustler]

Hello. It's been a while since I have been here. The homestead has been very busy.

I have a broody hen that has 5 chicks right now. I'm wondering what would happen if I picked up a couple more from tsc and put them in the pen with her and her chicks. They would be very close in size and age to the chicks she has. Would she likely accept them?

 

[sawilliams]

Hello. It's been a while since I have been here. The homestead has been very busy.

I have a broody hen that has 5 chicks right now. I'm wondering what would happen if I picked up a couple more from tsc and put them in the pen with her and her chicks. They would be very close in size and age to the chicks she has. Would she likely accept them?

It's hard to say but you need to be ready to put then in a broader if she doesn't take them. My tsc has a 6 chick minimum that plus the 5 she had might be to much for her. There are posts on how to go about it, most say to put the chicks in a broader and at night try to give her 2, trying to get them under her and settled. If she takes them and is brooding them the next day give her 2 more that night, and so on.

I did have luck giving my hen 6 from tsc all at once but then again she only had 1 of her own

 

[sannabelle]

That's hard to say- I have only added day old chicks to a broody. Didn't handle them much before hand so they didn't smell like me...

You could give it a shot but be prepared with a brooder in case she rejects them. I would move them in at night when her and her chicks are already settled, check on her periodically to make sure things don't go south.

Is she a first time broody mom? If so I probably wouldn't add any. Five is probably enough for her to handle already!

 

[sannabelle]

It's hard to say but you need to be ready to put then in a broader if she doesn't take them. My tsc has a 6 chick minimum that plus the 5 she had might be to much for her. There are posts on how to go about it, most say to put the chicks in a broader and at night try to give her 2, trying to get them under her and settled. If she takes them and is brooding them the next day give her 2 more that night, and so on.

I did have luck giving my hen 6 from tsc all at once but then again she only had 1 of her own

Ha! Basically the same comment at the same time....something about great minds thinking alike

 

[sawilliams]

Ha! Basically the same comment at the same time....something about great minds thinking alike

Couldn't have said it better myself... lol

 

[Chic Rustler]

That's hard to say- I have only added day old chicks to a broody. Didn't handle them much before hand so they didn't smell like me...

You could give it a shot but be prepared with a brooder in case she rejects them. I would move them in at night when her and her chicks are already settled, check on her periodically to make sure things don't go south.

Is she a first time broody mom? If so I probably wouldn't add any. Five is probably enough for her to handle already!

Oh yeah she's a first timer. I bought her as a chick in the spring. Might wait then. I have 50 regs in the bator anyway. I just wanted some black australorps....and I wanted to be lazy

 

[sannabelle]

I can understand that completely!! But yes, I would leave her with the five she has for now, and if she does well with them, next time you can try and load her up with some more

 

[Chic Rustler]

thanks for the advice!

 

[sannabelle]

Absolutely!!