Broody hen possibly not accepting new chicks

Pics
Date sort Score sort
lrogala

lrogala

Chirping
8 Years
Apr 24, 2011
6
7
67
Hi there! So I have done the Broody hen and baby chick thing several times successfully.I never had a hen reject her chicks. However this was 5 or 6 years ago, so I am feeling very new to this process. I put three baby chicks under my broody hen last night who had been sitting on her eggs for 3 weeks-possibly three days shy of three weeks. I can't tell if she is accepting them. I basically stayed up all night last night and checked every hour or so to make sure they were still under her and they were. Most of this morning when I checked they were still tucked under her so I started to think that we were home free. Just a few hours ago when I checked, sneaking up on her (I have them barricaded in the henhouse for now so my other hens can't disrupt anything) she was making those growley clucking sounds they make when they are broody. The three chicks where eating and drinking and then resting in the hen house but not under the mama. I was surprised they hadn't chosen to snuggle back in with her. I bought these three chicks from a breeder who told me they were 5 days old and that that was still young enough for success. Can someone tell me what are the signs that she is rejecting them? Is it normal for chicks to hang out for a little while away from mama? And .
should I just put them back under her or just let nature happen? Thank you so much in advance for any help!

I attached a picture of the Three Chicks so you can see how young they look.
 

Attachments

  • 20180625_200322.jpg
    20180625_200322.jpg
    230 KB · Views: 104
Hi and welcome to BYC. It’s perfectly normal for chicks not to need to be under a hen - they are not newly hatched. If they were cold they would be under the hen, or chirping constantly and huddled together. The fact that the chicks are still alive suggests that the hen has accepted them, but keep a close eye on things until you are convinced all is well.

Good luck
Pork Pie
 
Oh I'm so excited for the responses! I tried setting this up a long time ago and didn't quite figure the site out. Thank you so much for those of you who responded.
Well the chicks have been with mama for 32 hours. They seem ok, but mama hen still often makes that growly kind of unfriendly cluck that I only associate with broody hens. As I mentioned, I HAVE done this successfully 3 times but the last time was quite a while ago...I just dont remember any mamas continuing to make this sound after I placed the chicks under her.
I'm sure it is the fact that they were 5 days old. The seller was overly confident that this would work and I trusted her because she has her own wonderful healthy chicken farm in her backyard. She either didn't really know or wanted to sell her chicks!
In any case, I'm keeping a watchful eye...late once in the night I checked with a flashlight and all were under her, but one had its head out, eyes closed and at first I thought it might be dead but then it moved. So that was good. This morning they 2 of them were out eating and looking good but I left fast because she always makes more of her broody clucks when I come by, like she wants me out of the way. So I'm giving them space, crossing my fingers, but checking often and of course will be prepared to raise them myself if it doesn't work out.
Last time I checked , just a few minutes ago, they were all under her again and silence....
Sure hope this works! But boy have I learned my lesson about the age of chicks!
Thank you so much.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom