Broody hen question.

[Hannahs_Hens]

Hey guys, so I have a broody hen although she is sitting on Unfertile eggs. We don’t have a rooster and I was hoping to maybe get her a chick that she could raise. Unfortunately we only have room for one more, and I was wondering if I could just give her one chick… Would that be a bad idea…

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hey guys, so I have a broody hen although she is sitting on Unfertile eggs. We don’t have a rooster and I was hoping to maybe get her a chick that she could raise. Unfortunately we only have room for one more, and I was wondering if I could just give her one chick… Would that be a bad idea…

It would not be ideal, but it's better than a human raising a single chick. I've had successful singles raised by a mama hen. They're just very loud

 

[turkey girl 0964]

Hey guys, so I have a broody hen although she is sitting on Unfertile eggs. We don’t have a rooster and I was hoping to maybe get her a chick that she could raise. Unfortunately we only have room for one more, and I was wondering if I could just give her one chick… Would that be a bad idea…

If you don't have room for more chickens you can break her. My orp is raising 1 chick and it is doing fine, i don't think it would be a bad idea.

 

[Hannahs_Hens]

If you don't have room for more chickens you can break her. My orp is raising 1 chick and it is doing fine, i don't think it would be a bad idea.

I really appreciate you replying!! I am kinda a softy and I feel bad trying to break her, I feel if she wants a baby I could at least try…I mean worst comes to worst I end up raising it my self. I really appreciate your insight and I am glad to know it may work with one chick!

 

[Ridgerunner]

we only have room for one more,

If you only have room for one more I think giving her any chicks is a bad idea. While the hen is broody she will probably be able to take care of her chick and keep it safe with your flock, but at some point a broody will wean her chicks. She leaves her chicks to be all on their own when she rejoins the flock. I've had a broody hen wean her chicks as young as three weeks, I've had some wait until over two months to wean them. From the time she weans them until they are old enough to make their way into the pecking order (Usually about when my pullets start to lay) the chicks have to manage their own way with the flock.
The way mine do that is to avoid the adults day and night. During the day they stay where the adults are not. At night they do not sleep on the main roosts with the adults. If you only have room for one more you don't have room for them to avoid the adults. It takes more room to integrate than for a flock of fully integrated adults.

Another issue is that chickens are social animals. They want to be with other chickens. If you try to add only one it will not have a buddy after the hen weans it. So it will be very lonely or it could get injured trying to be with the adults.

My concern is not while the broody is taking care of it, it's after she weans it and it is on its own in what I take to be pretty crowded circumstances.

 

[Cheese_Quackers]

S

Hey guys, so I have a broody hen although she is sitting on Unfertile eggs. We don’t have a rooster and I was hoping to maybe get her a chick that she could raise. Unfortunately we only have room for one more, and I was wondering if I could just give her one chick… Would that be a bad idea…

She will most likely peck the new chick. I have tried this, and I ended up with 2/2 of the chicks I put in there dead.

 

[Hannahs_Hens]

It would not be ideal, but it's better than a human raising a single chick. I've had successful singles raised by a mama hen. They're just very loud

Ok thank you so much!!!

If you only have room for one more I think giving her any chicks is a bad idea. While the hen is broody she will probably be able to take care of her chick and keep it safe with your flock, but at some point a broody will wean her chicks. She leaves her chicks to be all on their own when she rejoins the flock. I've had a broody hen wean her chicks as young as three weeks, I've had some wait until over two months to wean them. From the time she weans them until they are old enough to make their way into the pecking order (Usually about when my pullets start to lay) the chicks have to manage their own way with the flock.
The way mine do that is to avoid the adults day and night. During the day they stay where the adults are not. At night they do not sleep on the main roosts with the adults. If you only have room for one more you don't have room for them to avoid the adults. It takes more room to integrate than for a flock of fully integrated adults.

Another issue is that chickens are social animals. They want to be with other chickens. If you try to add only one it will not have a buddy after the hen weans it. So it will be very lonely or it could get injured trying to be with the adults.

My concern is not while the broody is taking care of it, it's after she weans it and it is on its own in what I take to be pretty crowded circumstances.

That makes a lot of sense!! I appreciate you sharing that with me! I will have to think about things. I definitely understand this I’m not sure my hens would be to temperamental for they are very social especially with people.