Broody Hen/Chick Adoption Success Story

[lannfren]

I was reading a lot about giving broody hens chicks yesterday when I was trying to decide what to do, so I thought I would post my story for others who are thinking of trying it. I had two hens go broody a week apart and the original broody hen, a Rhode Island Red, was kicked off the nest by a Barred Rock. I made the mistake of not marking the fertilized eggs I had slipped under her and therefore couldn't tell which eggs were which when I separated them and created a second nest for the Rhode Island. In any case, it turned out she didn't get any of the fertilized eggs and the Barred Rock ended up with the only chicks that hatched. My heart broke for Red! She had been diligently sitting on her nest for almost 30 days! While all this was happening a friend of mine at work asked if she got an incubator and hatched some chicks with her young children would I be willing to take them. I said sure! When Red didn't get any chicks I thought of the 9 day old ones my friend had just hatched and decided to go for it, figuring if worse came to worse I would just raise them myself. I waited until about 10PM waiting until it was quite dark and took them down. I slipped out 5 or 6 of the eggs and put the chicks under her. They talked to one another until everyone finally quieted down and I took a peek with a light. They were all huddled up beside her. I let things be for a bit and checked back 25 minutes later and they were completely snuggled up underneath her! I checked a couple more times and all seemed well. In the morning she was one happy momma with some content chicks!

 

[Unexpected chicken lover]

so happy for u!!!!