Adoptions, Yes / No

[achnaha burdz]

Hi Folks,

Considering bringing some day olds to add to my broodies clutch, any reasons why It wont work or tips to make it work be appreciated. The broody I think is sitting on infertile eggs and the numbers are changing due to crows / snakes / other chickens so to get her off the nest without having to press reset I want to try sticking a handful of chicks in her nest to see if she can successfully raise them.
Cheers people hope all your chooks are laying

 

[Spartan22]

You will never find out until you tried, make sure to do it @night in almost total darkness. Depends on the broody hen, I had a broody that even adopted couple of 3.5 wks old chicks from another broody over a week ago when their mom abandoned them.

 

[sylviethecochin]

hope all your chooks are laying

And yours as well!

x2, Spartan.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd have to know more about your set-up and conditions to come up with reasons why it might not work. Crows/snakes might get the baby chicks. It's possible the hen might not accept the chicks, but that is pretty rare. To me it is absolutely worth a try if you want more chicks. Just realize you don't get guarantees.

I've done it different ways several times, practically all of them working. I think the best way to go about it is to get some very young chicks, the younger the better. You might get a hen to adopt older chicks but your odds are much better the younger they are. Put them under hen at night after it is pretty dark. You don't have to literally put them under her, just in the nest is good as long as the nest if fairly contained so they don't wander off. They will find their way under her. If you put them under her, sort of cup them under your hand and use the back or your hand to raise the hen. Be careful to not crush a chick already under her.

That's pretty much it. The hen should do the rest, though I'm down there pretty early the next to see how it is going. At some point, and it may take a couple of days, the hen will bring them off the nest for food and water. So you need to have food and water available where the chicks can get to it.

 

[PachecoPeeps]

How long has she been broody? Do you have an area set up for her and the chicks that is separate from any other hens you have?

The closer to 21 days the more likely she is to adopt them. As stated above you want to do it at night and have a brooder ready just in case she doesn’t accept them. Good luck and keep us updated.