Broody Hen Pecked Chicks

[trinitynow]

Hi there....

We got two new baby chicks today for our bantam frizzle that goes broody very regularly. We tried to put the chicks under her today but she pecked at them. Can we try again? Perhaps tonight? Or should we wait a few days and try again? Can we even try again or are we stuck with two babies we'll need to raise on our own? Our Buff raised two sets of baby chicks for us and she was amazing -- we just put them under her and she accepted them immediately. We'd much rather a hen raise the chicks as we haven't ever done it and are traveling this weekend. We're hoping we just made the mistake of introducing the chics too early in the brood cycle and during the day and that we can try again in a day or two. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Life is Good!]

Does she have eggs under her? If not, she might not accept any chick.
Definitely try at night - but swap out the eggs under her for the chicks. And see what happens.

I just successfully grafted a hatching chick under a broody - I had incubated a few eggs that had rolled out from under the hens (now have 12 broodies!) - and found one egg that pipped! Thankfully, it was dusk out - so I put the egg inside my husband's winter glove and dashed it out to the coop - and tucked it under the first hen who clucked back at the peeps from the chick! It worked!

Good luck!

 

[trinitynow]

Thank you!!! She doesn't have eggs under her. I'll put some under her today and maybe wait a day or two before trying to put the chicks under her again at night? Glad yours worked!