Broody adoption questions... which is best?

[macmama]

4 of the ten fertile eggs I bought were infertile. The lady offered to replace them with 2 chicks of my choice. Here's the problem... Hers hatched Saturday. My broody is due any day now (hard to tell because with such hot temps outside it could be any day after day 18, which is today)

So at the very least the chicks will be 4 days when I introduce them to broody-- but probably more like 6 days. Isn't that too old? And also, the older chicks are going to have to leave the nest for food and water, so the babies we hatch will have to be old enough to leave too, right? Should I wait until they are 24 hours old before adding new ones?

Do you think that if I confine them to a small space (2'X4' kennel) the age difference in chicks will be okay? Or should I just forget the free chicks and have her raise the 3 she'll (hopefully) hatch?

I do have the other option of getting 2 more 3-week-old chicks to graft on to my mama hen who has 3-week-old chicks... but I've never heard of that working. Thoughts? Advice?

 

[RioLindoAz]

Quote:
That wouldn't work out. I would just pop the new eggs in the incubator or under another broody. The reason for this is because broodies come off of the nest the second day the chicks have hatched. She wouldn't stay on the nest long enough for all of the eggs to hatch because instinct tells her that those eggs have faults and will not hatch. And even if the lady sent you 16 day old eggs, they'd be too late in the incubation process to survive shipping.

~Rio

 

[Kedreeva]

I say chuck them in when the others hatch, but I've not hatched via broody before. From what I've read here, they seem very adaptable though, taking on new babies pretty easily. Though they say to add at night because there's less chance of rejection.

My older chicks have done very well with the addition of smaller chicks, they don't pick on them at all, but there's no mom leading them around and keeping them warm or possibly rejecting them.

EDIT: I agree with the above poster that you shouldn't add the chicks before the others hatch. Add them a day or two after and see.

 

[macmama]

Quote:
That wouldn't work out. I would just pop the new eggs in the incubator or under another broody. The reason for this is because broodies come off of the nest the second day the chicks have hatched. She wouldn't stay on the nest long enough for all of the eggs to hatch because instinct tells her that those eggs have faults and will not hatch. And even if the lady sent you 16 day old eggs, they'd be too late in the incubation process to survive shipping.

~Rio

The replacements I'll be getting are chicks-- not eggs. The only eggs I have are the ones my broody should be hatching soon. Does that make sense? Oh, and she's just down the street, so no shipping either-- I'll be picking them up.