Broody Hen -- Can I Prove her New Chicks?

[willowlady1]

We have a hen gone broody, nothing is changing that. Our local chick supplier has new chicks this week, and I am wondering if I could put a couple "foreign" chicks in with her for her to mother. Is it likely she will mother them or kill them? What say you all? Title should read PROVIDE not Prove

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined us!

You are dealing with living animals. Anything can happen. Nobody can guarantee you absolute success or condemn you to absolute failure. Now that the legal disclaimer is out of the way......

You have an excellent chance of success doing that. Many of us have successfully done exactly that. I've done it with chicks I hatched from an incubator.

A few things that can help your odds of success. The younger the chicks are, the better your odds. The older they are, the less likely the hen is to bond with the chicks and the less likely the chicks are to imprint on the hen. The best chances are when the chicks are only one to three days old. Some people have had success with older chicks, but the chances of problems increase with the chicks' age.

Broodies cannot count. They cannot count the number of eggs, the number of chicks, or the number of days that have passed. People have had great success in giving a broody chicks after her only being broody a couple of days, but people have also reported failures doing that. Being broody is hormonal. It's probably better to let the broody be broody a few days to let those hormones take full effect. Some broodies have been known to stop being broody after a few days also. Those hormones raged but didn't quite tip the scales to fully committed to being broody. I don't know that you have to wait that long, but if you can, I'd suggest waiting at least five or six days. I think it will improve your odds of success. But the age of the chicks is more important. Get them and try it as young as you can.

The method I recommend is to wait until it is totally dark in the coop and slip the live chicks under the broody using as little light and commotion as possible. She will feel and hear those chicks under her all night and wake up with a new family. Although she can't count, I'd suggest removing any eggs, fake or real, that you have under her. That's just to give the chicks more room. It's not an absolute requirement.

Good luck and once again ,

 

[willowlady1]

Thanks so much for the info. I have one further question. She has been broody for a week now and all her brooding has been below the regular laying boxes in the hutch, Should I leave her there for at least the first night and slip the live chicks (2-3 days old) under her, or should I separate her immediately and then introduce the live chicks? My gut says leave her be where's she's happiest and comfortable but watch them all carefully the next day for chick-murdering behaviors. Our little flock is only seven in number, and one of those is a small sized roo. We rehomed the big roo that originally was with them; he was just too bloomin' noisy and he was so aggressive he made the hens nervous. I'm fairly new at this, so all input is really appreciated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd leave her in the nest she is used to. Why complicate it?

Roosters get a bad rap on this forum. I guess that comes from it being a mostly female forum.

I don't know how mature your small-sized rooster is. I have never had a problem with a mature rooster trying to harm chicks. On the contrary, I've had different mature roosters help out the broody, even watching over and protecting the chicks if some get separated from her.

Immature roosters are more like the hens. Some mature hens and immature roosters will go after the chicks, but usually not if they are protected by the broody. Most ignore the chicks, but if the chick gets separated from the broody and goes around the older hens, they are likely to peck it or even try to kill it. But this is not likely when the broody is around.

Let me tell you something else I have observed at different times. A two week old chick leaves its Mama's protection and goes over to the feeder and starts to eat next to the other mature hens. Sometimes those hens will ignore the chick and let it eat. But usually before too long, one hen will peck the chick to remind it that it is bad chicken etiquette for that chick to eat with its social betters. The chick runs flapping and peeping back to Mama, who ignores all this. That chick needs to learn proper flock etiquette. But, if that hen tries to follow that chick to do harm, Mama takes great offense and teaches that hen to leave its babies alone.

Hens have been hatching and raising chicks with the flock for thousands of years. They have a system down that usually works. Of course, you are dealing with living animals and no one can tell you exactly what will or will not happen. Sometimes you might have a disaster, but really not all that often. They are not extinct yet!!!

I do think that Mama having enough space to raise the chicks makes a big difference. If space is pretty tight, it makes her job harder and disasters more likely. But even then, you'll be surprised at how well Mama can do.

Good luck!

 

[willowlady1]

Thanks for the prompt response. I think I'll go with my gut and just leave her where she's happy. We went ahead and picked up three chicks, one day old. There should be enough space under the laying boxes for our broody to deal with the chicks, and the other hens and rooster will be up on the roost at night. I'll put some food and water close by her, and see what develops. We also went around the hens' areas and collected about two cups of downy feathers that they routinely shed. I'm going to put that in her nesting space when we chase her out during the day to get something to eat and drink and see if she likes it. I realize the whole thing may turn out badly; or I could wind up raising the three chicks myself; but I'm hoping for good results and many others have indicated good results are possible. I'll never know if I don't try it. I shall certainly keep a sharp eye out for trouble tomorrow and for a few days afterwards. I'm not really too concerned about the rooster. The first rooster tried to kill the one we have now when we first got it -- it was younger by about six to eight weeks. This rooster is not nearly as dominant and, in fact, we've seen he gets a little hen-pecked sometimes.

Thanks again. I can tell this forum is going to provide a wealth of information, experience, encouragement and support.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

I did this very same thing a month ago. I had a broody BO who I let sit for 21 days and then tucked some day old Blue Andalusian's under her. She took them and has been raising them ever since. It is positively the cutest thing in the whole wide world.

I blogged about it:
http://the-spice-girls.blogspot.com/2012/08/i-will-never-raise-chicks-again.html

And here they are at a week:
http://the-spice-girls.blogspot.com/2012/08/mama-says-eat-your-veggies-so-youll.html

I did separate mama and babies for one week. Only because mama was the bottom of the pecking order and I have a very moody, grumpy BO that I was not sure how she'd react. Turns out, she could have cared less. And a HUGE Jersey Giant who will eat anything and everything. I was really afraid she'd eat one. But when I let them all loose together, the Jersey gave one good peck to show them she's the Alpha hen of the pack and that was that.

My only issue is with the hen who was the broody's best friend before she was broody. She went after her a bit. I think she was angry that she lost her best mate in the pack and had to sleep next to someone else on the roost at night.

But after four weeks, all is good.

 

[willowlady1]

So far, so good. We waited until well after dark when all the others were on their roosts and then we quietly tucked the babies right under the broody hen. Other than growling at us a bit, she didn't seem to notice. We did remove the ceramic eggs we had put in early in the day for something for her to sit on. Checked them this morning, and they were all alive. This is the warmest part of the day here in the PNW, so I just checked them again, and they are out and about but staying very close to the broody. We'll check again, briefly, late this evening to make sure she took them back under her -- it's too cool at night for them to survive without her heat. Also, I know it's early days, and anything can happen, but it was just so cute to see the little peepers out but staying close to adoptive mom. Thanks again for all your input -- if this works, it will be thanks to your advice.

 

[willowlady1]

UPDATE: So far, so good. All your advice about when, how, etc. was spot on. Zero problems. The three are one week old today, and already out and about and learning from adoptive Mom. The only worry I have is local predators. I figured out how to keep them inside the chicken wire -- straw up against the wire. They are so cute! I fear the chicken bug has got me. Husband is planning a larger hen house. Thanks much to all of you!

 

[willowlady1]

Update: The three babies are three weeks old now, and doing fine so far. They go out with the flock in the morning and peck-a-peck all day. Mom and babies are the first into the coop at night. Again, thanks for all the insight and help. Man, this is the EASY way to raise chicks. I had a neighbor who tried it, but her hen freaked out; her hen had only been broody for a few days. Mine had been intractably broody for well over a week, and she was happy mommy hen the morning after we placed the one-day old chicks underneath her. I am amazed as how quickly the babies are fledging and growing. They seem to be coming along much faster than the flock I raised in the Spring. Maybe there's a happy factor? Or maybe it's just a more natural way to do it. The temps around here are below 50 degrees in the morning, and it doesn't seem to bother the babies at all. They just fluff up and stay closer to mom. It's amazing to me; at three weeks they already have distinct personalities. One is very adventurous and will wander far from mom; one is a stick-by-mom; and one is a mix of the other two. I have also noticed how distinctive mom hen's clucking is: Very low in timbre, sounds completely different than the other hens, especially when she's calling the chicks to her.